ALBANIA 

Tht  FOUNDLING  STATE 
OF  EUROPE 


WADHAM  PEAGOCK 


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ALBANIA 

THE  FOUNDLING  STATE  OF  EUROPE 


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ALBANIA 

THE  FOUNDLING  STATE  OF  EUROPE 


WADHAM    PEACOCK 

FORMERLY    PRIVATE   SECRETARY   TO   H.B.M.  CHARGE   D'AFFAIRES   IN  MONTENEGRO 
AND  C0N6UL-GEN£RAL  IN   NORTH  ALBANIA 


WITH   NUMEROUS   ILLUSTRATIONS 


NEW   YORK 
D.   APPLETON    &    COMPANY 

MCMXIV 


701 
S5P3 

CONTENTS 

PA  OB 

I,    In  Europe  and  yet  not  of  it 1 

II.    The  Gate  of  North  Albania       .        .        .        .        .  9 

III.  ScoDRA — the    Albanian    City    which     Montenegro 

Covets 34 

IV.  Kavasses  and  Servants 52 

V.    The  Boulevard  Diplomatique 62 

VI.    The  Vali  Pasha  and  his  Staff 75 

VII.     The  Roman  Catholics  of  Scodra         ....  83 

VIII.    The  Commodore  and  his  Fleet 92 

IX.    The  Malissori  Chief 104 

X.    Albanian  Blood-Feuds 114 

XI.    In  the  Albanian  Mountains 130 

XII.    A  Night  in  Ramazan 142 

XIII.  An  Albanian  Wedding 153 

XIV.  The  Story  of  Albania 176 

XV.    Cutting  Out  the  New  Kingdom          ....  204 

XVI.    The  Future  of  Albania 224 

XVII.    The  Albanian  Roman  Catholic  Church      .        •        .  234 


This  book  deals  uith  a  jyhase  in  the  history  of  Albania,  ivhich 
is  j^assing  aicay.  The  neiv  King  has  arrived  at  his  neio 
capital,  and  the  European  ruler  has  replaced  the  Turkish 
Pasha.  But  the  soid  of  the  Shkypetar  people  remains  the 
same,  and  the  Albania  of  to-morrow  ivill  be  the  Albania  of 
yesterday  with  only  a  superficial  variation,  hi  the  Near 
East  things,  when  they  change,  change  sloioly,  and  the 
transition  from  the  Middle  Ages  to  the  Ticentieth  Century 
will  not  be  accomplished  by  a  stroke  of  the  pen  because 
Europe  has  at  last  recognised  its  foundling  State. 

Some  of  the  chapters  have  appeared  in  "  The  Fortnightly 
Revieiv,"  "  Chambers'  Journal "  and  other  periodicals,  to 
whose  editors  I  make  my  acknotvledgments,  I  have  also 
to  thank  Lady  Donegall,  Mrs.  Gordon  and  Mr.  R.  Caton 
Woodville  for  leave  to  use  some  of  the  photographs  here 
reproduced. 

WADHAM  PEACOCK. 

L(mdon,  March,  1914. 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 


TO    FACr,  PAGE 

ScoDRA.     The  Castle  and  Mount  Tarabosu    .         .       Frontispiece 

AcHMBT  Pasha's  Bridge,  Tabaki  and  the  Castle   ...  32 

Ancient  Bridge  at  I\Iesi  over  the  Kiri         ....  32 

An  Unmarried  Roman  Catholic  Girl 40 

Village  Matron  from  Vraka    .        .        ...        .        .        .40 

A  Mahometan  Agha 44 

A  Mahometan  Woman  Indoors 44 

Old  House,  formerly  the  British  Consulate-General         .  64 

The  Public  Garden  of  Hussein  Husni  Pasha         ...  64 
The  Eoad  to  the  Bazaar  by  the  Konak         .        .        .        .98 

The  Bazaar  with  the  Exit  of  the  Boiana  from  the  Lake  98 

Gipsies  near  Lake  Scodra 100 

Montenegrins  near  Lake  Scodra 100 

Nik  Leka.    An  Albanun  Mountain  Chief      ....  104 

PuLATi.    Married  and  Unmarried  Women       ....  104 

Malissori  Fishermen  near  Lake  Scodra         ....  134 

Malissori  Farmers  going  to  the  Bazaar        ....  134 

Albanian  Alphabets  adapted  from  Greek  and  Turkish        .  198 

The  New  Testament  in  Greek  and  Albanian        .        .        .  210 

A  Group  of  Albanian  Mountaineers       ....  228 


ALBANIA 


IN    EUROPE    AND    YET    NOT    OF    IT 

With  the  beginning  of  1913  Albania  suddenly 
awoke  to  find  herself  famous  ;  for  the  newspaper 
reader  became  aware  that  there  was  such  a  district 
in  Europe,  in  that  mysterious  Balkan  peninsular 
occupied  by  Bulgarians,  Servians  and  Greeks, 
some  independent,  and  some  crushed  under  the 
heel  of  the  wicked  Turk.  Albanians,  it  is  true, 
had  been  heard  of  even  by  those  who  were  not 
experts  in  Near  Eastern  matters,  but  they  were  con- 
sidered as  Turks  of  a  sort  and  as  oppressors  of  the 
Christians,  and  it  was  something  of  a  surprise  to 
most  people  when  the  action  of  Austria  and  Italy 
— selfish  action  it  may  be — forced  the  Western 
Europeans  to  recognize  that  the  Albanians  are  not 
Turks,  but  the  oldest  of  European  races,  and  that 
a  very  large  proportion  of  them  belong  to  the 
Roman  Catholic  and  Orthodox  Churches.  When 
Austria  insisted  on  Albania  being  made  into  an 
independent  state  on  the  fines  of  Greece,  Bulgaria, 

B 


2  ALBANIA 

Servia  and  JMontenegro,  the  towns,  rocks  and  plains 
of  Albania  began  to  emerge  from  the  mediaeval  dark- 
ness in  which  they  had  been  for  so  long  enveloped, 
a  darkness  so  intense  that  even  Gibbon  could  write 
of  the  Albanians  as  a  "  vagrant  tribe  of  shepherds 
and  robbers,"  without  any  hint  of  who  and  what 
they  really  are.  Now  this  ancient  nation  is  to  be 
given  its  place  in  Europe  alongside  the  more 
modern  Slavs  who  dispossessed  it  of  the  best  part 
of  its  inheritance  before  the  Turk  was  heard  of  in 
the  Balkans,  and  who  last  year  would  gladly  have 
swallowed  up  the  scanty  plains  and  sterile  moun- 
tains in  which  it  has  eked  out  a  warlike  existence 
for  nearly  fifteen  hundred  years.  During  the  past 
quarter  of  a  century  Albania,  being  in  Europe  and 
yet  not  of  it,  has  hardly  been  touched  by  travellers, 
who  have  gone  further  afield  to  Asia  and  Africa, 
but  have  passed  by  the  eastern  shores  of  the 
Adriatic.  The  Consuls  at  Scutari  and  Prisrend 
were  withdrawn  when  the  country  ceased  to  be 
of  active  interest  to  the  European  Chancelleries, 
and  the  few  Europeans  who  did  penetrate  to  the 
mountainous  regions  of  North  Albania  paid  more 
attention  to  the  picturesque  court  of  Cettigne  than 
to  the  barren  rocks  and  grim  villages  of  the 
Shkypetars. 

For  those  who  have,  or  who  had,  to  live  in  the 
country,  Albania  is  one  of  the  few  places  still  left 


IN   EUROPE   AND    YET   NOT   OF   IT     3 

in  Europe  where  a  man  may  feel  in  exile.  Rail- 
ways, steamers  and  telegraph  lines  have  brought 
most  parts  of  Europe  within  easy  reach  of  the 
tourist.  There  is  an  English  society  of  one  sort  or 
another  in  most  foreign  towns  ;  and  where  there  is 
no  society  there  is  a  British  merchant  or  two,  or 
some  one  trying  for  a  concession,  or  some  one 
financing  a  railway.  A  man  does  not  feel  himself 
absolutely  in  exile  when  he  can  hear  his  own 
language  spoken  occasionally  by  residents  or 
visitors,  but  in  Scutari — or  Scodra,  as  it  should 
properly  be  called — we  so  seldom  saw  a  traveller's 
face,  or  heard  any  English  voices  but  our  own, 
that  we  might  fairly  consider  ourselves  in  exile. 
Not  only  was  the  place  so  difficult  of  access  that  it 
was  almost  impossible  to  reach  it  in  less  than  eight 
or  ten  days  on  an  average,  but  the  post,  that  great 
solace  of  the  exile,  was  extremely  irregular.  Letters 
came  quickly  enough  as  far  as  Trieste,  but  there 
they  were  put  on  board  an  Austrian  Lloyd  steamer 
and  spent  nearly  a  week  dawdling  down  the 
Adriatic  till  they  reached  San  Giovanni  di  INledua, 
which  is  one  of  the  worst  ports  in  what  used  to  be 
European  Turkey,  and  that  is  saying  a  great  deal. 
Scodra  is  about  twenty  miles  from  the  sea-coast, 
and  each  consulate  possessed  a  postman  who  took 
it  in  his  turn  to  ride  down  to  the  port  to  meet  the 
steamer  and  to  bring  back  the  mails.     When  the 


4  ALBANIA 

weather  was  bad  the  boats  did  not  touch  at  JNledua, 
and  the  postman  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  the 
Lloyd  go  by  to  Corfu,  and  of  spending  the  time  at 
fever-stricken  IVIedua  somehow  or  other  till  its 
return.  Sometimes  there  was  quite  a  collection  of 
postmen  who  had  Iianded  over  their  mailbags  to 
the  Lloyd  agent  and  were  waiting  to  receive  the 
post  when  the  steamer  did  touch.  But  supposing 
the  gale  to  moderate  sufficiently  for  this  the 
difficulties  of  the  postman  were  not  over.  We 
always  talked  of  the  "  road  "  to  INIedua,  but  only 
by  courtesy,  for,  strictly  speaking,  there  was  not 
even  a  track  for  the  greater  part  of  the  way. 

In  the  summer  it  was  all  plain  sailing  ;  the  boats 
touched  with  commendable  regularity,  the  river 
Drin  was  low,  and  the  postman  ambled  along  the 
level  banks  or  occasionally  in  the  dried-up  bed  of 
the  stream.  But  in  the  winter  it  was  a  very 
different  thing ;  the  Drin  has  no  respect  for  its 
banks,  and,  not  content  with  flooding  all  the  plain 
in  the  rainy  season,  carves  out  new  courses  for 
itself  now  and  then  which  puzzle  the  most 
experienced  postman.  Sometimes  the  unfortunate 
official  had  to  wade,  sometimes  he  had  to  borrow 
a  londra,  or  canoe,  and  paddle  across  the  river  ; 
and  sometimes  he  got  intercepted  for  a  week,  and 
the  precious  mails,  for  which  we  were  longing  with 
the  impatience  only  known  to  exiles,  had  to  be 


IN   EUROPE   AND    YET    NOT   OF    IT     5 

stored  in  a  damp  hut  waiting  till  the  rush  of  waters 
was  past.  The  postal  officials,  too,  in  Europe  had 
vague  notions  as  to  our  whereabouts.  ^V  letter 
plainly  addressed  "Albania"  was  once  sent  to 
America,  and  returned  from  Albany,  N.Y.,  with 
the  inscription,  "  Try  Europe  "  ;  and  a  parcel,  after 
having  been  despatched  from  England,  was  no  more 
heard  of  for  months,  until  one  fine  day  a  Turkish 
postman  arrived  with  it  safe  and  sound.  It  had 
been  sent  to  Constantinople  by  a  clerk  who  was 
too  sharp  to  pay  attention  to  the  address,  and 
thence  carried  across  the  peninsula  by  a  zaptieh  at 
an  enormous  expense  of  time,  trouble  and  money. 
Such  little  misadventures  as  those  made  us  welcome 
very  heartily  the  solemn  lace  and  long  grizzled 
moustaches  of  Gian,  the  postman,  as  he  jogged  up 
the  road  from  the  bazaar  with  the  mail-bags  swing- 
ing at  his  saddle-bow.  The  telegraph  was  even 
more  irregular,  for  even  if  it  was  not  broken  down 
the  Pasha  was  always  telegraphing  to  Constanti- 
nople for  instructions.  But  these  things  will 
all  belong  to  yesterday  when  the  new  state  has 
been  constituted  by  Europe  on  the  very  latest 
principles,  and  so  it  is  well  to  put  them  on  record 
before  they  fade  away  utterly  into  the  benighted 
past. 

Scodra   stands    at   the   edge    of  a   wide  plain 
hemmed  in  on  all  sides  by  lofty  mountains.     To 


6  ALBANIA 

the  north-west  the  great  lake  of  Scodra  stretches 
away  into  Montenegro,  its  western  bank  shut  in 
by  the  mountains  which  rise  directly  from  its  shore 
and   separate   it   from   the   Adriatic   sea,   and   its 
eastern  bank  a  low  fertile  plain  shut  in,  in  its  turn, 
by    the   mountains    of   the   Malissori,   or   Roman 
Catholic  Albanian  tribes.     Nearly  due  north  rises 
the  imposing  mass  of  the  Maranai  mountain  with 
the  remains  of  the  ancient  city  of  Drivasto  at  its 
feet,  through  whose  gorge  issues  the  Kiri,  a  mere 
rivulet  in  summer  but  a  furious  torrent  in  the  winter. 
Close  under  the  Castle  hill  lies  the  city  of  Scodra, 
looking  like  a  grove  pierced  with  slender  minarets, 
and  with  the  weather-beaten  red-tiled  roofs  of  its 
liouses  showing  through  the  trees.     It  is  wedged 
in  between  the  lake  and  the  Castle  hill  at  the  south- 
west corner  of  the  plain,  and  squeezed  in  between 
the  Boiana  and  the  rock  is  the  bazaar,  at  once  the 
market  and  the  clubland  of  the  town.     Across  the 
river  stands  Mount  Tarabosh,  whose  modern  fort 
the    INIontenegrins    found    such    an    impregnable 
obstacle,  and  then  the  river  v^nds  south-westwards 
through  the  lowlands  to  Dulcigno  and    the    sea, 
while  to  the  south  the  broad  plain  of  the  Zadrima 
stretches  away  to  the  low  hills  which  shut  in  the 
wretched  little  seaport  of  San  Giovanni  di  Medua. 
Away  to  the  north  at  some  distance  from  the  lake 
and  under  the  spurs  of  the  Great  Mountains,  lies 


IN   EUROPE   AND    YET    NOT   OF    IT     7 

the  fortress  village  of  Tusi  which  was  once  the 
head-quarters  of  the  Albanian  League,  and  which 
later  on  became  famous  as  the  scene  of  the  revolt 
of  the  Albanian  tribesmen  against  the  Turks,  and 
for  its  capture  by  the  Montenegrins  on  October 
I4th,  1912. 

There  are  three  principal  ways  of  reaching 
Scodra  from  Europe  :  by  steamer  across  the  lake 
from  Montenegro  ;  by  launch  up  the  river  Boiana  ; 
and  by  horse-back  across  the  Zadrima  from  San 
Giovanni  di  Medua.  Of  these  the  latter  route  is 
most  in  keeping  with  the  spirit  of  the  place,  and  in 
fact  was  almost  the  only  way  of  reaching  the  city 
until  a  few  years  ago.  San  Giovanni  di  Medua  is 
not  an  imposing  looking  seaport  as  one  approaches 
it  from  the  sea.  Soon  after  passing  the  entrance 
to  the  Boiana  the  steamer  rounds  a  low  headland, 
and  a  long  semi-circular  sweep  of  flat  sand  comes 
into  view,  backed  by  low  hills  which  end  in  an 
abrupt  bluff  to  the  north  and  sink  away  into 
swamps  and  marshes  towards  the  south.  Once 
landed  on  the  desolate  and  uninviting  beach  the 
track  follows  the  sandy  shore  of  the  Adriatic  to 
the  south,  strikes  inland  across  some  marshy 
ground  and,  rounding  the  last  spur  of  the  hill, 
crosses  the  river  Drin  to  the  village  of  Alessio 
crouching  under  its  ancient  and  half- ruined 
fortress.     From  Alessio  the  road,  or  rather  track, 


8  ALBANIA 

runs  by  the  side  of  the  Drin,  following  its  curves 
and  windings  in  the  most  irritating  manner,  and 
never  seeming  to  get  any  nearer  to  the  distant  hills 
behind  which  lies  the  city  of  Scodra.  It  runs 
through  the  rich  plain  of  the  Zadrima,  and  varies 
wdth  the  height  of  the  river  Drin  and  with  the 
state  of  the  crops  in  the  fields  hard  by.  There  are 
several  villages  on  the  route,  the  inhabitants  of 
which  are  fairly  well  to  do  in  spite  of  the  miserable 
look  of  their  houses  and  the  uncared  for  state  of 
the  hedges  and  roads.  But  San  Giovanni  di 
Medua,  Alessio,  and  the  journey  along  the  Drin 
through  the  valley  of  the  Zadrima,  deserve  a 
chapter  to  themselves. 


II 

THE  GATE  OF  NORTH  ALBANIA 

We  had  been  steaming  in  leisurely  fashion  down 
the  Adriatic  from  Trieste,  past  Zara,  Ragusa, 
Cattaro  and  the  other  old-world  towns  along  the 
rocky  shore,  until  one  morning  soon  after  sunrise 
the  screw  of  the  ancient  steamer  ceased  throbbing, 
and  the  word  was  passed  round  that  we  had 
reached  San  Giovanni  di  Medua.  There  was  no 
apparent  reason  why  a  steamer  should  touch  at 
such  a  place,  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  the  curve 
of  sandy  shore  formed  the  harbour  of  San  Giovanni 
di  Medua,  and  was  the  principal  entrance  to  North 
Albania  from  the  Adriatic  sea. 

People's  ideas  of  ports  and  harbours  differ. 
Some  think  of  Dover,  and  some  of  Southampton, 
if  they  are  untra veiled ;  or,  those  who  have  gone 
further  afield,  of  Bombay  and  Singapore.  But, 
unless  they  have  been  round  Africa  or  the  coasts 
of  some  Turkish  province,  they  would  never 
imagine  that  San  Giovanni  di  Medua  could  make 
so  much  noise  in  the  world  as   it   did   when   the 


10  ALBANIA 

Montenegrins  and  the  Servians  let  Eiu'ope  know 
that  they  coveted  it. 

The  steamer  came  to  an  anchor  out  of  the  way 
of  the  sandbank  which  is  the  only  drawback,  and  a 
slight  one,  to  the  better  use  of  the  harbour,  but 
sheltered  from  the  north  wind  by  the  hills  which 
slope  away  north-west-by-north  to  Dulcigno.  San 
Giovanni  di  Medua  is  a  harbour  at  the  head  of  a 
wide  bay  formed  by  the  estuaries  of  the  river  Drin, 
but  the  traveller  who  expects  docks,  or  piers, 
wharves,  warehouses  and  all  the  rest  of  the  advan- 
tages of  civilization,  will  be  disappointed.  An 
isolated  range  of  hills  which  stretches  from  the 
Boiana  to  the  Drin  at  Alessio  is  the  background  to 
the  scene,  and  to  the  south  low  and  marshy  land 
which  might  just  as  well  be  under  the  sea,  scarcely 
slopes  down  to  the  Adriatic  shallows  of  the  bay. 
In  a  nick  of  the  hills  to  the  north,  just  above  the 
harbour,  were  a  few  cottages,  one  of  which  was 
dignified  by  the  name  of  the  Lloyd  Agent's 
residence,  and  another  was  known  as  the  khan,  or 
hotel.  These,  with  the  barracks  of  the  Turkish 
soldiers  and  a  few  tents  near  the  water's  edge, 
made  up  this  seaport  which  might  be  turned 
into  a  tolerable  harbour  if  it  were  in  European 
hands. 

The  docks  and  the  wharves  and  the  landing 
stages  were  represented  by  a  long  heap  of  stones 


THE   GATE   OF   NORTH   ALBANIA     11 

stretching  out  into  the  sea,  and  a  pier  is  an  absolute 
necessity,  for  the  sea  is  so  shallow  that  passengers 
have  to  be  landed  in  small  boats,  and  could  they 
not  scramble  out  on  to  this  rickety  heap  of  stones 
they  would  have  to  wade  ashore.     The  small  boats 
which  take  the  passengers  from  the  steamer  to  the 
pier  were  manned  by  boatmen  whose  appearance 
was  that  of  brigands,  and  whose  looks  and  gestuVes 
were  those  of  all  the  ruffians  of  history  and  legend 
put  together.     These  men  were  dressed  in  tight- 
fitting    clothes    of    white    felt  embroidered   with 
black  ;  on  their  heads  they  wore  white  felt  caps,  in 
some  cases  bound  round  with  a  sort  of  turban  of 
dirty   white  cotton  ;   on  their  shoulders  some   of 
them  wore  a  black  sheepskin,  and  on  their  feet 
they  wore  raw  hide  sandals  tied  with  leather  straps. 
In  their  belts  were  arsenals  of  weapons,  pistols  and 
long  knives,  and  with  eyes  flashing  and  moustaches 
bristling  they  argued  at  the  top  of  their  voices  in 
guttural  Albanian  over  the  passengers,  and  seemed 
within   an   ace   of  coming    to    blows    with   their 
primitive   oars,  or  of  drawing  the  vicious-looking 
knives  and  blades  from  their  belts.     The  timid  and 
unaccustomed  travellers  might  be  excused  for  hesi- 
tating  to  entrust  themselves  to   such   theatrical- 
looking    brigands,    but     the   officers   of  the   ship 
evidently  looked  on  them  as  quite  normal  persons, 
and     occasionally    addressed    them    with     polite 


12  ALBANIA 

authority  in  Italian,  which  most  of  the  boatmen 
could  speak  in  moments  of  calm. 

But  for  all  their  savage  appearance  and  quarrel- 
some manners  the  boatmen  of  San  Giovanni  di 
JNIedua  were  fine,  honest  fellows,  some  of  them 
from  the  mountains  of  Mirditia  to  the  south-east 
of  the  port,  and  others  of  the  Skreli  tribe  of 
IMalissori  from  the  Great  Mountains  east  of  the 
lake. 

At  last  the  passengers  and  their  baggage  were 
sorted  out  into  the  different  boats,  and  silence 
suddenly  fell  on  the  furious  group,  only  broken 
now  and  then  by  an  encouraging  shout  or  grunt  as 
the  men  raced  for  the  long,  low  heap  of  stones 
which  formed  our  introduction  to  Turkish  soil. 
As  we  happened  to  have  H.B.M.  Consul  with  us 
any  Custom  House  nuisance  that  may  usually  be 
enforced  was  of  course  ignored,  and  no  one 
ventured  to  lay  a  hand  on  the  sacred  baggage  oi  to 
say  a  word  to  the  fierce  looking  kavass  who  had 
taken  charge  of  it  when  it  reached  the  shore. 

There  is  one  change  which  will  be  infinitely 
for  the  worse  now  that  semi- civilized  kingdoms 
have  replaced  the  Turk.  In  Turkey  the  Consular 
official  of  a  Great  Power,  and  of  a  little  one  if 
he  could  bluff  sufficiently,  was  a  sacred  person, 
and  his  kavasses,  though  natives  of  the  country 
and   Turkish   subjects,  shared   in   his   glory.     An 


THE   GATE   OF   NORTH   ALBANIA     13 

Albanian  kavass  was  a  splendid  dignitary.  He 
treated  the  Turkish  soldiers  with  the  most  lordly 
disdain,  and  they  were  his  humble  servants.  His 
gorgeous,  gold-embroidered  clothes,  his  weapons, 
his  bristling  moustaches  and  his  fierce  air  of 
command  imposed  on  every  one,  even  on  the 
Turkish  officers  who  had  been  any  time  in  Albania 
and  had  not  had  a  Frankish  education. 

But  all  this  is  passing  away,  and  the  Balkan 
states  will  prove  their  new  independence  and 
equality  with  Europeans  by  treating  Consuls  as 
quite  ordinary  folk  in  the  lands  where  for  many 
years  past  they  have  been  little  kings.  Austria 
was  very  long-suffering  with  Servia  over  the  treat- 
ment of  Herr  Prochaska,  the  Austro-Hungarian 
Consul  at  Prisrend.  Had  Turkish  officers  and 
troops  acted  in  the  same  way  and  dared  to  oppose 
a  Consul,  the  whole  of  Europe  would  have  been  in 
a  blaze  of  indignation,  telegrams  would  have  been 
flying  all  over  the  Continent,  the  Ambassadors 
would  have  bullied  the  Sultan  and  the  Porte  out 
of  their  lives,  Pashas  would  have  been  disgraced 
and  generals  cashiered  for  half  of  what  the  Servian 
officers  did  unrebuked,  and  the  Turks  would  once 
more  have  been  taught  that  even  a  VaXi  Pasha  is 
as  nothing  by  the  side  of  a  Consul. 

But  Europe  is  letting  that  happy  state  of 
things   slip   in  the   former  provinces  of  Turkey. 


14  ALBANIA 

The  Consuls,  instead  of  being  the  great  men,  will 
be  nothing  more  than  undistinguished  foreigners 
whose  word  counts  as  nothing,  and  who  are 
expected  to  order  themselves  civilly  and  humbly 
to  the  officials  of  the  new  dispensation.  The 
change  will  be  a  sad  one,  and  for  some  years  by 
no  means  for  the  better. 

Not  that  the  Customs  were  ever  very  pressing 
in  such  out-of-the-way  corners  of  Turkey,  for  a 
judicious  expenditure  of  baksheesh  always  alle- 
viated the  rigours  of  the  strict  letter  of  the  law. 
The  major  in  charge  of  the  ragged  soldiers  at  San 
Giovanni  di  Medua  sighed  gently,  for  he  saw 
his  vision  of  special  baksheesh  for  those  many 
packages  disappear  before  the  royal  arms  on  the 
kavass'  fez,  but  with  the  exquisite  courtesy  of  his 
race  he  invited  us  to  sit  on  the  rough  divan  which 
served  as  the  resting-place  so  dear  to  the  Turkish 
soul,  outside  his  weather-stained  tent.  His  shelter 
was  a  strip  of  coarse  sail-cloth  stretched  from 
branch  to  branch  of  a  consumptive  tree  to  keep 
off  the  sun,  and  beneath  it  was  a  divan  made  of 
switches  wattled  together  and  covered  with  a 
tattered  carpet. 

We  saluted  the  major  and  his  lieutenant,  who 
stood  ceremoniously  until  we  were  seated  and 
then  with  many  salaams  placed  themselves  on  the 
edge  of  the  packing  cases  which   served  them  as 


THE   GATE   OF   NORTH    ALBANIA     15 

extra  chairs.  This  was  out  of  politeness,  for  there 
was  a  lady  in  our  party,  and  the  Turk  considers 
that  leaning  back  in  a  chair,  or  crossing  the  legs, 
is  exceedingly  ill-bred.  So  the  major  and  his 
lieutenant  sat  on  the  edge  of  their  packing  cases, 
and  the  more  polite  they  were,  the  nearer  the 
edge  did  they  sit,  as  far  as  was  compatible  with 
not  slipping  off. 

When  we  were  seated  the  major  clapped  his 
hands,  and  a  depressed-looking  warrior,  in  a  faded 
bluish-green  uniform,  appeared  stealthily  from 
behind  the  tent  and  offered  us  cigarettes  with 
his  hand  pressed  to  his  heart.  He  was  followed 
by  an  equally  sad-looking  soldier  with  a  glowing 
coal  from  a  mangaU  or  open  charcoal  brazier,  in 
a  small  pair  of  tongs,  with  which  we  lighted  our 
cigarettes ;  and  finally,  announced  by  the  grateful 
smell  of  boiling  coffee,  the  kafedji  appeared  with 
steaming  cups  of  coffee  on  a  tray,  which  he 
handed  to  us  with  the  same  sadness  and  ceremony. 
The  cups  were  cracked,  the  zaifi  the  commonest 
produce  of  the  bazaar,  and  the  tray  battered,  but 
the  coffee  was  excellent,  and,  with  the  ingrained 
courtesy  and  hospitality  of  the  Turk,  the  major 
and  his  detachment  had  placed  all  they  possessed 
at  our  disposal. 

We  smoked  the  cigarettes  and  sipped  the 
coffee,   and   then,   the   claims   of  etiquette   being 


16  ALBANIA 

satisfied,  we  entered  into  conversation  with  our 
hosts.  That  is  to  say,  the  Consul  and  the 
heutenant  conversed,  for  the  young  officer  was 
an  Arab  and  the  Consul  spoke  that  language 
like  a  native,  whereas  the  major  spoke  nothing 
but  Turkish,  and  had  no  smattering  of  any 
European  language.  We  did  our  best  with 
signs  and  smiles,  while  the  Consul  and  the 
lieutenant  were  deep  in  the  state  of  the  roads 
over  which  we  should  have  to  travel  to  reach 
Scutari,  or  Scodra  as  it  should  be  called,  the 
state  of  the  country,  the  food  supply  and  so  on, 
but  especially  the  state  of  the  roads,  for  the 
wandering  Drin,  whose  course  we  were  to  follow 
across  the  wide  plain  of  the  Zadrima,  meanders 
where  it  will,  and  the  boasted  road  of  Ghazi 
Dervish  Pasha,  which  would  have  enabled  us 
to  get  from  the  sea  to  Scodra  in  less  than  two 
hours,  has  never  been  made. 

It  was  through  the  medium  of  the  lieutenant 
that  we  got  at  the  soul  of  the  major.  The  major 
spoke  in  Turkish  to  the  heutenant,  the  lieutenant 
translated  into  Arabic  for  the  Consul,  and  the 
Consul  summarized  the  conversation  in  EngUsh 
for  the  benefit  of  the  rest  of  us  who  had  no 
knowledge  beyond  the  tongues  of  Europe. 

"  My  tent  is  at  their  excellencies'  disposal," 
said  the  major  to  the  lieutenant,  but  embracing 


THE   GATE   OF   NORTH   ALBANIA     17 

us  all  with  his  sad  eyes.  "  It  is  my  misfortune 
that  I  have  nothing  to  offer  more  worthy  of 
acceptance." 

"  The  Bimbashi  has  done  wonders,"  said  the 
Consul,  who  knew  San  Giovanni  di  Medua  and 
the  fever  which  haunts  it.  "  With  a  divan  in  the 
shade,  and  coffee  and  cigarettes,  what  can  a  man 
wish  for  more  ?  " 

The  Bimbashi  smiled  sadly.  "  Happily,"  he 
said,  "  I  only  spend  the  day  in  this  accursed 
place ;  I  pass  the  night  at  Alessio,  and  there  at 
least  one  can  sleep.  I  regret  that  I  must  receive 
their  excellencies  here,  but  it  is  the  will  of  God." 

It  was  evident  that  the  epithets  which  the 
Bimbashi  applied  to  San  Giovanni  di  Medua  did 
not  penetrate  further  than  the  Consul,  but  what- 
ever they  might  have  been  they  were  well 
deserved.  AVith  a  sigh  the  Bimbashi  dismissed 
San  Giovanni  di  Medua  and  turned  to  pleasanter 
themes. 

"  When  I  was  in  Syria,"  he  said,  "  I  knew 
some  English  lords  who  went  there  for  shooting. 
They  worked  very  hard  at  it,"  added  the 
Bimbashi,  who  had  the  primitive  idea  of  sport 
which  consists  in  filling  the  bag  as  soon  as  possible, 
at  the  least  expenditure  of  time,  trouble  and 
ammunition,  and  hurrying  home  with  it  to  the 
cook. 

c 


18  ALBANIA 

"  I  was  in  Syria,  too,  at  Damascus,"  said  the 
Consul,  brightening  up,  but  avoiding  the  subject 
of  sport  as  opposed  to  shooting  for  the  pot. 

"And  his  excellency  speaks  Arabic  wonder- 
fully," interjected  the  lieutenant.  But  the 
Bimbashi  only  smiled  deprecatingly,  for  like 
most  Turks  he  had  never  troubled  to  learn 
the  language  of  any  of  the  other  races  of  the 
Ottoman  Empire. 

Foiled  in  this  direction,  the  Consul  thought 
of  starting  on  the  long  and  wearisome  journey. 
"The  Bimbashi  will  excuse  us  if  we  do  not 
trespass  any  further  on  his  delightful  hospitality, 
but,  as  he  knows,  the  road  to  Scodra  is  long,  and 
we  must  reach  the  city  before  aksham." 

The  Bimbashi  knew  this,  but  again  he  smiled 
his  sad  smile.  "  Let  his  excellency  not  disturb 
himself,"  he  said ;  "  the  day  is  long  and,  who 
knows,  the  ambulance  waggon  which  the  Pasha 
has  sent  for  her  excellency  may  soon  be  here." 

In  consideration  of  the  Consul's  harem,  as  the 
natives  put  it,  being  of  the  party,  the  Turkish 
authorities  had  placed  an  ambulance  waggon  at 
our  disposal,  but  so  far  there  had  been  no  signs  of 
the  conveyance.  However,  no  one  worried  ;  no 
one  hurried.  Bahahim  !  The  carriage  will  arrive 
in  due  time,  if  God  wills  ;  if  not,  what  can  we  do  ? 
Doubtless  it  was  too  late  to  do  anything  but  wait, 


THE   GATE   OF   NORTH   ALBANIA     19 

but  the  Western  mind  could  not  help  remembering 
that  if  the  road  across  the  plain  had  been 
finished,  not  only  would  the  ambulance  waggon 
have  reached  Medua  before  that,  but  we  ourselves 
should  have  been  in  it  and  half-way  to  Scodra. 

There  are  two  parts  of  Dervish  Pasha's  road 
constructed  so  far,  and,  as  is  usual  in  that  part  of 
the  world,  they  are  the  two  parts  which  are  of  the 
least  use.  The  starting-point  is  at  the  south  end 
of  the  bridge  of  Achmet  Pasha  at  Scodra,  and  it 
runs  for  a  mile  or  two  to  the  village  of  Bltoja, 
where  it  incontinently  stops,  curiously  enough,  at 
the  very  spot  where  the  Drin  begins  to  make  the 
passage  of  the  Zadrima  plain  shifty  and  difficult 
in  all  but  the  driest  weather.  From  Bltoja  to  the 
Barbelushi  hills  a  raised  causeway  would  be  of 
supreme  utility  and  would  save  the  city  of  Scodra 
from  days  of  isolation  by  road  in  the  winter,  but  in 
spite  of  occasional  spurts  of  energy  the  Turkish 
authorities  have  studiously  ignored  the  untamed 
Drin,  and  when  the  road  is  picked  up  again  it  is  at 
the  foot  of  the  hills  opposite  Alessio,  whence  it 
runs  with  ostentatious  superfluity  to  the  dejected 
seaport  of  San  Giovanni  di  JNledua. 

But  Scodra  was  eight  hours'  hard  riding  from 
San  Giovanni  di  Medua,  and  the  ambulance 
waggon  might  take  still  longer  to  do  the  journey, 
even  supposing   that   it   had   not  got  stuck  in  a 


20  ALBANIA 

bog-hole  on  the  way  down,  so  at  last  we  decided 
to  wait  no  longer,  but  to  take  advantage  of  the 
horses  of  the  kiradji  who  was  with  the  Consular 
postman,  and  start  off  for  Alessio  on  the  chance  of 
meeting  the  waggon.  The  postman  was  ready  to 
start  and  only  waiting  for  us,  as  his  French 
colleague  had  gone  on,  so  with  much  shouting  and 
grunting  our  belongings  were  hoisted  on  to  the 
pack  horses,  and  fastened  with  cords,  one  on  each 
side  of  the  pack  saddle  and  a  little  one  on 
the  top.  'The  patient  beasts  stood  still  while 
the  operation  was  going  on,  though  more  than 
once  they  seemed  likely  to  be  shaken  off  their 
legs  by  the  energy  of  the  postman,  the  kir'adji  and 
his  assistants. 

At  last  all  was  ready,  the  last  package  was 
rescued  from  the  sand,  and  the  procession  started 
off,  the  postman  leading  the  way  mounted  on  quite 
a  respectable  horse,  for  the  animal  shared  in  the 
reflected  glory  of  the  Consulate.  Next  came  the 
kiradji  within  shouting  range  of  him,  for  the 
Albanians  converse  quite  comfortably  at  a  distance, 
and  sitting  side-saddle  on  his  animal  in  the 
Albanian  fashion.  Then  came  the  pack  horses 
with  our  belongings,  fastened  nose  to  tail  in  single 
file,  and  lastly  the  kiradji  s  assistant  who  urged  on 
the  caravan  with  encouraging  shouts  which  echoed 
all  along  the  shore.     The  major,  the  lieutenant, 


THE   GATE    OF    XOUTH    A  URANIA     21 

tlie  soldiers,  the  boatmen  and  ourselves,  stood  and 
watched  the  starting  of  the  procession  with  great 
interest  and,  when  all  were  under  way,  we  said 
good-bye  to  our  courteous  hosts  and  mounted  our 
own  horses. 

Sad  to  relate,  none  of  us  took  advantage  of 
the  beginnings  of  the  road  under  the  hill.  The 
postman,  the  h'lradji  and  the  pack  horses  all 
wound  along  the  fine,  dry  sand  by  the  sea,  and  we 
followed  their  example,  the  major  and  his  men 
all  seeming  to  think  it  natural  that  we  should 
do  so.  But  the  Pasha's  road  was  not  entirely 
neglected,  for  about  half-way  to  Alessio  the  post- 
man suddenly  struck  inland  to  the  left,  as  the  bay 
trended  too  much  to  the  right,  and  there  were  also 
marshes  in  the  way.  The  file  of  horses  followed 
him  automatically,  and  presently  we  took  the 
road  at  the  foot  of  the  hills,  and  at  last,  rounding  a 
final  corner,  saw  Alessio  before  us  on  the  other  side 
of  the  river  Drin.  The  little  town  which,  though 
it  stands  inland,  has  lately  been  dignified  with  the 
name  of  seaport,  lies  nestling  under  a  hill  which  is 
the  last  offshoot  of  the  Mirdite  mountains  into  the 
plain  of  the  Zadrima.  The  major  was  right. 
Though  it  is  but  a  village  crouching  under  an 
ancient,  ruined  fortress,  it  is  a  thousand  times  pre- 
ferable to  San  Giovanni  di  JNIedua.  Most  of  its 
houses  are  pretty  and  well  built  in  the  Scutarine 


22  ALBANIA 

style  with  gardens  surrounded  by  high  walls  and 
full  of  trees  and  flowers. 

A  great  man  of  the  place,  a  Roman  Catholic 
farmer  and  merchant,  was  an  old  friend  of  the 
Consul,  and  he  came  out  to  welcome  us  with  good 
news.  The  ambulance  was  really  coming,  and  had 
passed  San  Stefni,  so,  as  it  was  nearly  midday  and 
dinner  was  almost  ready,  the  farmer  insisted  on 
our  being  his  guests  until  the  arrival  of  our  waggon. 
Our  host  was  a  stout,  round-about  little  man  with 
a  face  like  a  full  moon,  a  stubby  moustache  and 
scant  hair  sticking  up  on  end.  He  was  dressed  in 
his  best,  which  was  a  mixture  of  town  and  country, 
probably  to  show  that  he  was  a  merchant  as  well  as 
a  villager.  He  wore  a  Scutarine  fez,  which  is  lower 
and  wider  than  a  Turkish  fez,  and  adorned  with  a 
heavy  blue  silk  tassel.  His  waistcoat  was  of 
crimson  cloth  embroidered  with  black  silk,  and  his 
coat  of  the  same  stuff,  with  wide,  full  tails  of 
eighteenth  century,  Georgian  cut,  and  with  huge 
pockets  into  which  he  perpetually  stuck  his  hands. 
His  baggy  knickerbockers,  which  out-knicker- 
bockered  the  Dutchmen,  were  also  of  crimson 
cloth  embroidered  with  black  silk,  but  instead  of 
the  red  cloth  gaiters  and  shoes  of  the  Mahometan 
townsman,  which  should  properly  have  finished  off 
his  get-up,  he  wore  the  hideous  white  cotton 
stockings  and  .Jemima  boots  which  the  Christian 


THE  GATE  OF  NORTH  ALBANIA  23 

townsmen  have  borrowed  from  Europe.  As  the 
coping  stone  to  his  magnificence  he  had  put  on  in 
our  honour  a  broad  collar  of  native  cotton  lace, 
which  fell  over  his  shoulders  and  made  him  look  as 
if  he  had  stepped  out  of  an  old  picture. 

The  merchant-farmer  was  Albanian  bom  and 
spoke  the  language  as  only  a  native  can,  but  he 
was  obviously  not  of  the  true  blood.  Like  many 
of  the  Albanians  of  the  border  lands,  he  was  of 
mixed  descent,  but  in  his  case  the  mixture  was 
neither  Slav  nor  Greek,  but  probably  Italian. 
However,  he  was  a  most  cheery  and  hospitable 
little  man,  and  as  he  spoke  Italian  with  great 
fluency  he  seemed  like  a  European  in  fancy  dress 
after  the  hnguistic  difficulties  of  the  Turkish 
encampment. 

His  womenkind  bustled  and  dashed  about, 
chattering  with  excitement,  for  everything  was  to 
be  done  alia  franca  and  not  in  the  native  fashion. 
The  guests  were  actually  to  sit  uncomfortably  on 
chairs  round  a  table,  instead  of  squatting  comfort- 
ably on  a  divan,  and,  wonder  of  wonders,  were 
going  to  use  the  queer  knives  and  forks  which 
the  master  had  brought  back  from  Trieste  and 
was  so  clever  that  he  knew  how  to  use  them. 
Moreover,  a  white  sheet  had  been  spread  upon  the 
table  instead  of  the  usual  red-and-blue  covering 
of  ceremonial   occasions,   and  this   made  aU  the 


24  ALBANIA 

girls  giggle  more  than  ever.  The  farmer's  wife 
and  daughters  and  maid  servants  were  not  veiled, 
firstly  because  they  belonged  to  a  village  near  the 
mountains,  and  secondly  because  they  were 
Christians,  and  only  the  Christian  women  of  the 
towns  went  veiled  in  order  to  conform  to  Turkish 
custom.  In  the  country  they  followed  the  Albanian 
fashion  and  did  not  cover  their  faces,  though  the 
girls  blushed  and  turned  away  whenever  they  saw 
a  Frank  looking  at  them.  They  were  dressed  in 
heavy  cloth  skirts  of  a  bright  brown  bound  with 
red  braid,  and  wore  short  jackets  over  their  gauze 
chemises. 

The  house  stood  on  the  slope  of  the  hill 
looking  down  to  the  Drin.  It  was  built  of  stones 
from  the  bed  of  the  river,  and  its  whitewashed 
walls  and  low,  wide  tiled  roof  made  a  delightful 
contrast  to  the  thick  green  of  the  trees  which 
surrounded  it.  The  dwelling  rooms  were  on  the 
first  floor,  for  it  was  built  in  the  Scutarine  style, 
and  the  feast  was  laid  in  the  broad  balcony,  shut 
in  on  three  sides,  and  looking  out  over  the  river  to 
the  sea  and  the  hills  along  which  we  had  just 
ridden. 

The  good  wife  was  superintending  in  the 
kitchen  with  a  daughter  and  a  maid  to  help  her, 
while  the  rest  were  looking  after  the  strange  table 
and   its   stranger  appointments.     Every  now  and 


THE   GATE   OF   NORTH    ALBANIA     25 

then  a  suppressed  giggle  caine  from  them,  but  it 
gave  way  to  a  hushed  awe  as  we  all  took  our  seats 
on  the  chairs  without  falling  off*  or  upsetting  them. 
We  could  see  the  girls,  both  the  two  who  were  in 
the  balcony  and  those  who  were  peeping  round 
the  corners  of  the  door,  holding  their  breath  for 
fear  an  accident  should  happen,  and  marvelling 
how  we  could  contrive  to  keep  our  balance  on  the 
chairs,  and  at  the  same  time  perform  juggling 
feats  with  the  dangerous-looking  forks  which  must 
so  complicate  the  use  of  the  simple  and  homely 
knife. 

The  food  at  our  host's  table  was  simple  but 
plentiful.  There  were  strange  fish  fried,  and 
mutton  roasted  and  chicken  roasted,  stuffed  egg 
plants  and  salads  of  tomatoes  and  green  stuff*,  and 
cheese  and  fruit  of  several  sorts.  For  drink  there 
was  mild  beer  in  bottles  and,  better  still,  native 
wine  from  the  farmer's  own  vineyards,  which  was 
very  like  Burgundy  in  character  and  on  which  the 
old  man  prided  himself  not  a  little.  The  mistress 
of  the  house  we  did  not  see  after  the  first  greetings 
until  dinner  was  nearly  over,  and  then  she  came 
and  joined  us  in  order  to  prove  that  she  too  knew 
the  world,  but  a  suggestion  that  the  daughters 
should  come  and  sit  down  was  received  with 
bashful  consternation  which  ended  in  an  abrupt 
flight  to  the  women's  quarters.     The  jovial  father 


26  ALBANIA 

laughed  loudly  and  explained  that  his  daughters 
were  not  yet  alia  franca,  but  that  he  meant  to  take 
them  to  Trieste  next  year  to  show  them  what  the 
world  was  really  like.  At  this  the  mother  looked 
very  dubious,  but  her  husband,  who  was  a  cheery 
mortal,  cried  out  that  his  wife  thought  they  ought 
not  to  go  till  they  were  married  ;  but  he  knew  that 
after  they  were  married  they  would  have  to  do 
what  their  husbands  told  them.  His  wife  looked 
wise,  but  said  nothing. 

"  Why,  you'd  never  believe  it,  Signor  Console," 
went  on  the  husband  and  father,  "  these  merchants 
of  Scodra  go  to  Venice  and  Trieste,  sometimes 
every  year,  and  hardly  one  of  them  has  ever  taken 
his  wife  with  him  !  I've  taken  my  wife,"  he  added 
proudly. 

"  Has  the  Signora  seen  Venice  ? "  asked  the 
Consul. 

"  Si,"  murmured  the  good  dame,  who  was 
rounder  and  fatter  than  her  husband,  but  who 
nevertheless  blushed  like  a  girl  at  talking  to  a 
Consul. 

"  Twice,"  asserted  her  husband,  with  his  hands 
deep  in  his  coat  pockets,  and  with  an  absurd 
resemblance  to  a  complacent  turkey  cock  with  a 
blue  wattle.  "  Twice  to  Trieste.  But  all 
husbands  are  not  so  good-natured  as  I  am,  and 
when  my  daughters   are  married   their  husbands 


THE   GATE    OF   NORTH   ALBANIA    27 

might  not  want  to  take  them."  He  chuckled 
wickedly  to  himself  at  some  reminiscence  of  a 
business  visit  to  Trieste  with  merchants  from 
Scodra.  "  No,  no.  If  they  don't  go  with  me 
next  year  they  may  never  go  at  all,  until,"  he 
added,  dropping  his  voice  and  glancing  round 
him  cautiously,  "  until  we  get  la  nostra  indipen- 
deiiza." 

His  wife  looked  scared,  especially  as  the 
lumbering  of  wheels  outside  told  of  the  coming  of 
the  ambulance  waggon.  Our  host  got  up  and 
examined  the  road,  but  as  the  waggon  was  at  some 
little  distance  he  resumed  his  seat  and  went  on 
with  his  argument. 

"  Besides,  girls  who  know  how  to  dress  alia 
franca  marry  well  nowadays.  Remember 
Deragyati's  daughter  who  married  an  Austrian." 

Then  the  mistress  of  the  house  made  her  record 
speech.  "  But  the  other  girls  alia  franca  did  not 
marry,"  she  burst  out ;  "the  men  wouldn't  have 
them.     They  thought  them " 

"  They  were  barbarians,"  interrupted  her 
husband,  fearing  what  was  coming,  and  [:bowing 
to  the  lady  of  our  party,  "  barbarians.  But  they 
will  learn,  and  I  will  help  to  teach  them." 

His  wife  said  nothing.  In  fact  she  had  a 
horrible  suspicion  that  she  had  already  said  too 
much. 


28  ALBANIA 

The  Consul  rose  and  shook  her  warmly  by  the 
hand.  "  A  thousand  thanks  for  your  gracious 
hospitality,  Signora,"  he  said.  "  But  you  will 
pardon  us  if  we  get  ready,  for  the  ambulance 
has  arrived,  and  we  must  reach  the  city  before 
aks/ia?n." 

In  a  moment  all  was  bustle  again,  but  even 
Consuls  could  not  command  expedition  in  Turkey. 
The  soldiers  had  to  be  fed  and  the  horses  baited, 
and  it  was  nearly  an  hour  later  before  the  waggon 
was  loaded  up,  and  we  creaked  and  bumped  across 
the  river  Drin  and  rattled  slowly  along  the  apology 
for  a  road  that  ran  by  the  side  of  the  river  under 
the  Barbelushi  hills.  Luckily  the  river  was  low 
and  the  ground  dry,  and  when  the  six  horses  broke 
into  a  spasmodic  trot  on  the  other  side,  the  last 
we  saw  of  our  jovial  host  was  a  crimson  figure 
waving  an  enormous  coloured  handkerchief  from 
the  balcony  of  his  house. 

In  Europe,  when  a  man  speaks  of  a  road  he 
means  a  more  or  less  levelled  surface,  metalled 
and  convenient  for  motor,  or  at  least  for  horse 
traffic.  In  Albania  he  means  a  track,  or  frequently 
merely  a  direction,  which  he  must  adhere  to  in 
order  to  get  from  one  place  to  another.  Between 
Alessio  and  Scodra  the  whole  wide  plain  of 
Zadrima  may  be  said  to  be  the  road,  for  the 
easiest  line  to  be  taken   depends  on  the  unruly 


THE   GATE   OF   NORTH   ALBANIA     29 

river  Drin  and  on  the  state  of  the  crops  in  the 
fields  near  by.  This  river  is  a  very  important 
factor  in  Albania,  but  hitherto  it  has  been  an 
obstacle  and  not  a  highway  of  traffic. 

The  Black,  or  South  Drin,  flows  out  of  the 
Lake  of  Ochrida  in  Middle  Albaniji,  and  going 
due  north  joins  the  White  Drin,  which  rises  in 
the  mountains  above  Ipek  and  waters  Jacova  and 
Prisrend,  just  above  the  Vezir's  bridge.  Then  the 
united  torrents  bound  the  territories  of  the  IMirdites 
on  the  north,  and  break  through  the  moimtains 
near  the  village  of  Jubany  where  Gian  Castriot, 
the  father  of  Scanderbeg,  had  a  castle,  only  the 
ruins  of  which  are  now  visible  on  the  top  of  the 
hill.  Formerly  all  the  Drin  ran  south-west  to 
the  sea  at  Alessio,  but  in  modern  times  part  of 
the  river  struck  out  a  new  course  to  the  north- 
west and,  joining  the  Kiri  just  south  of  Scodra, 
ran  into  the  Boiana  under  the  bridge  of  Achmet 
Pasha. 

The  old  course  of  the  Drin  through  the  plain 
of  the  Zadrima  is  not  very  formidable  in  summer 
when  the  mountain  snows  have  melted,  but  in 
winter  it  flows  all  over  the  plain,  and  the  villages, 
which  are  mostly  built  on  low  hills,  stand  out  like 
islands  in  the  flood  of  waters.  Sometimes  the 
plain  is  impassable  for  weeks  after  hea\'y  rains, 
and  the  villages  can  only  communicate  with  one 


30  ALBANIA 

another  by  londra,  the  high  peaked  canoe  or  boat 
of  the  Albanians.  The  river  is  always  altering 
its  course,  and  villages  which  not  long  ago  were 
within  reach  of  the  sea  by  boat  are  now  left  on 
one  side  by  the  stream  which,  in  its  erratic  wander- 
ings, has  caused  heavy  losses  to  the  farmers  of  the 
fertile  plain  and  has  turned  many  of  their  best 
fields  into  swamps. 

But  meanwhile,  until  engineers  are  allowed  to 
take  the  river  in  hand  and  rescue  the  plain  from  its 
eccentricities,  travellers  have  to  follow  the  course 
which  the  experience  of  the  Consular  postmen 
shows  them  is  the  best.  Roughly  speaking,  the 
road  runs  under  a  low  range  of  hills  separated 
by  a  marsh  from  those  above  San  Giovanni  di 
Medua,  to  Barbelushi,  the  most  important  village 
of  the  plain,  and  thence  to  Bouschatti,  the  domain 
of  the  ancient  Albanian  Pashas  of  Scodra,  which 
stands  on  a  low  hill  rising  like  an  island  out  of 
the  plain. 

At  both  places  the  ambulance  halted  for  coffee, 
it  being  clearly  the  opinion  of  the  escort,  both 
officers  and  men,  that  it  is  wise  to  drink  coffee 
when  and  where  you  can,  as  you  never  can  tell 
when  you  will  get  it  again.  But  for  these  halts 
the  drive  across  the  plain  would  have  been  deadly 
in  its  stiffening  monotony.  The  old  waggon  went 
bumping,  jolting,  jingling  and  rattling   over    the 


THE  GATE   OF   NORTH   ALBANIA     31 

inequalities  of  the  road,  and  even  the  waste  of  time 
caused  by  stopping  to  make  coffee  gave  reUef  to 
the  feeling  that  the  spine  was  hopelessly  shattered 
and  every  tooth  loosened,  which  was  induced  by  a 
mile  or  two  of  that  real  carriage  "  exercise."  The 
only  incident  of  the  journey  was  the  impartial 
burning  of  his  own  and  his  neighbours'  clothes  with 
cigarette  ends  which  the  lieutenant  in  charge  of 
the  conveyance,  who  smoked  incessantly,  carried 
on  with  smiling  and  unruffled  impartiality  all  along 
the  road. 

But  all  things  have  an  end,  even  a  drive  in  a 
Turkish  ambulance,  and  at  last  we  reached  the  low 
hill  above  Bltoja,  and  there  we  struck  the  northern 
end  of  Dervish  Pasha's  famous  road.  It  might  not 
have  passed  the  scrutiny  of  motorists  at  home,  but 
after  five  or  six  hours  of  the  native  "  roads  "  it  felt 
like  paradise.  Shortly  afterwards  we  reached  the 
bridge  of  Achmet  Pasha,  which  crosses  the  united 
Drin  and  Kiri  and  joins  the  suburbs  of  Baccialek 
and  Tabaki,  and  incidentally  is  the  entrance  to 
Scodra  from  the  south.  The  bridge  is  more 
picturesque  than  trustworthy,  and  though  we 
treated  the  Custom  House  authorities  with  Con- 
sular indifference,  we  all  had  to  get  out  and  cross 
the  structure  on  foot,  for  fear  that  our  combined 
weight  might  cause  the  ambulance  waggon  to  plop 
through    the   planking   into   the   swirhng  stream 


32  ALBANIA 

below.  The  bridge  was  built  in  1768  by  Achmet 
Pasha  of  Bouschatti,  the  Albanian  ruler  of  Scodra, 
in  order,  as  he  said,  "  to  leave  to  posterity  a 
lasting  memorial  of  his  beneficence."  Those  who 
have  had  to  cross  the  Drin  at  this  spot  on  a  raft 
with  a  lot  of  wild  Albanians  and  loose  horses,  will 
bless  the  memory  of  Achmet  Pasha,  but  the 
occasional  breakdowns  of  the  bridge  remind  one 
that  1768  is  a  long  time  ago,  and  that  the  Turkish 
doctrine  of  "  Bakaluvi  "  is  an  inadequate  substitute 
for  regular  repairs. 

The  bridge  is  a  most  graceful  wooden  structure, 
raised  on  four  wooden  piers  with  wooden  arches 
between  them,  and  a  wooden  roadway  protected 
by  wooden  handrails,  both  of  which  are  fitter  for 
firewood  than  anything  else.  The  bridge  over 
which  every  one  coming  from  the  Zadrima  district 
must  pass,  is  a  most  convenient  place  for  settling 
feuds,  and  many  a  man  has  been  shot  down  as  he 
came  out  of  the  trees  of  Baccialek  to  the  bridge 
head.  Here  it  was  that  the  Albanian  Leaguers 
lay  in  wait  to  shoot  Mehemet  Ali  Pasha  had  he 
gone  to  Scodra  instead  of  going  on  his  fatal  mission 
to  Ipek,  and  looking  from  the  bridge  down  the 
course  of  the  Boiana  lies  Murichan  from  which  the 
Montenegrins  vainly  bombarded  Mount  Tarabosh 
for  many  weeks.  Tarabosh  itself  stands  on  che 
other  side  of  the  river  Boiana  just  in  front  of  us  but 


IN    THE    MOUNTAINS. 
Ancient  bridiie  at  Mosi  over  the  Kiii. 


SCODRA. 
Achuiet  I'aslm's  Bridge,  Tabaki  auil  the  Castle. 


THE   GATE   OF    NORTH    ALBANIA     33 

slightly  to  the  left,  and  right  ahead  is  the  Castle  hill 
rising  out  of  the  red  roofs  and  olive  trees  of  Tabaki. 

As  we  left  the  bridge  a  puff  of  smoke  floated 
out  from  the  old  Venetian  battlements  of  the 
Castle  overhead.  It  was  followed  by  another,  and 
instantly  every  Albanian  raised  his  rifle  or  drew 
his  pistol  and  sent  a  bullet  whistling  into  space. 
Another  puff  of  smoke,  and  then  another  and 
another,  following  each  other  round  the  circle  of 
the  battlements,  and  the  rifle  and  pistol  firing 
redoubled.  The  country  was  in  a  very  disturbed 
state,  and  we  were  evidently  in  the  throes  of  a 
revolution,  to  which  the  rickety  ambulance  would 
afford  but  a  poor  defence.  But  no  one  was  unduly 
disturbed,  and  the  kavass  in  reply  to  a  query  from 
the  Consul,  said,  "  Bairam,  Signor."  That  was  all. 
The  long  month  of  fasting,  Ramazan,  during  which 
the  true  believer  will  not  touch  even  a  drop  of 
coffee  or  a  cigarette  from  sunrise  to  sunset,  was 
over  at  last.  The  tiny  crescent  of  the  new  moon 
had  been  seen,  and  the  muezzin  had  chanted  the 
evening  call  to  prayer  from  the  minaret.  The 
Albanian  Mahometan,  who  is  a  strict  believer,  has 
only  one  way  of  expressing  joy,  and  that  is  by  firing 
a  bullet  into  the  air  regardless  of  possible  accidents. 

And  so,  to  the  roar  of  cannon  and  the  banging 
of  rifles  and  pistols,  we  made  our  first  entrance  into 
the  ancient  city  of  Scodra. 

D 


Ill 

SCODRA 

THE   ALBANIAN    CITY   WHICH   MONTENEGRO 
COVETS 

Ever  since  October  21st,  1912,  when  the  Monte- 
negrins began  to  shell  Mount  Tarabosh,  whose 
fort  commands  the  city,  Scodra — or,  as  it  is  in- 
correctly and  most  confusedly  termed,  Scutari — 
has  been  on  every  man's  tongue.  And  yet  till 
then  few  people  could  have  said  exactly  where 
it  is  on  the  map,  and  fewer  still  have  visited  it. 
For  those  who  know  it,  even  as  passing  visitors, 
it  has  a  remarkable  fascination  not  only  for  the 
beauty  of  its  situation  and  surroundings,  but  also 
for  the  strangeness  of  its  inhabitants,  their  manners, 
customs,  dress,  and  above  all  their  restlessness  and 
their  blood-feuds.  The  city  lies  at  the  southern 
end  of  Lake  Scodra,  and  is  the  capital  of  North 
Albania  and  one  of  the  most  ancient  cities  of 
Europe.  The  date  of  its  foundation  is  not  known, 
but  it  claims  to  have  been  the  capital  of  the  old 
Illyrian  kings  about   1000  B.C.,  and    Livy    is  the 


SCODRA  .35 

first  Latin  author  who  makes  mention  of  it,  in  his 
account  of  the  war  against  the  Illyrian  pirates,  as 
the  stronghold  of  their  rulers  in  230  b.c.  The 
city,  though  for  centuries  ruled  by  its  native  kings 
and  always  inhabited  by  the  Thrako- Illyrian  tribes 
who  are  now  represented  by  the  Albanians,  passed 
from  time  to  time  under  the  domination  of  the 
Gauls,  ithe  Romans,  the  Byzantine  Empire,  the 
Goths,  the  Bulgarians,  the  Serbs,  the  Venetians, 
and  finally  of  the  Turks,  who  took  possession  of  it 
in  1477  A.D.  For  over  a  hundred  years  under  the 
Turks  it  was  ruled  by  its  native  Scodrah  Pashas, 
and  it  was  only  after  the  Crimean  War  that  it  was 
ruled  from  Constantinople  direct,  though  the 
mountains  have  always  been  semi-independent. 

Every  one  must  sympathize  with  King  Nicolas 
in  his  desire  to  extend  the  cramped  boundaries  of 
his  little  mountain  realm,  but  no  one  can  approve 
of  his  ambition  to  annex  lands  which  do  not  belong 
to  the  Slavs,  and  have  never  been  more  than 
temporarily  occupied  by  them  in  the  Middle  Ages. 
In  the  time  of  the  Czar  Dushan,  c.  1350,  the  rocks 
which  afterwards  came  to  be  known  as  JMontene^ro 
were  united  with  Scodra  and  its  plains,  but  Monte- 
negro was  ruled  from  Scodra  and  not  Scodra 
from  Montenegro.  The  little  kingdom  is  histori- 
cally connected  with  the  principality  of  Zenta, 
but  the  state  which  is  known  as  Montenegro  did 


36  ALBANIA 

not  come  into  existence  until  after  the  defeat  of 
Kossovo  in  1389,  and  Scodra  was  then,  as  it  has 
always  been  in  spite  of  foreign  occupations,  an 
Albanian  city.  King  Nicolas  has  also  put  in  a 
claim  to  Scodra  on  the  surprising  plea  that  his 
ancestors  are  buried  there,  but  his  family  originally 
came  from  Niegush  in  the  Herzegovina,  removing 
in  1476,  when  the  Turks  conquered  the  duchy,  to 
a  new  Niegush  near  Cettigne.  The  King's  ances- 
tors lie  buried  in  the  Herzegovina  or  in  Montenegro, 
and  it  is  in  the  Herzegovina  that  Montenegro  ought 
to  be  allowed  to  expand,  and  not  in  Albania.  The 
Herzegovina  is  absolutely  identical  with  Monte- 
negro, whereas  Scodra  is  Albanian  and  peopled  by 
an  utterly  different  race.  But  the  King  recog- 
nizes that  the  Herzegovina  was  lost  to  him 
when  Austria  was  requested  to  administer  the 
provinces  after  the  Treaty  of  Berlin,  and  that  unless 
the  Dual  Monarchy  breaks  up  his  extension  in  the 
Slav  lands  of  the  north  is  finally  blocked.  Never- 
theless his  ambition  to  revive  the  Czardom  of  the 
Serbs  is  quite  compatible  with  the  existence  of  an 
independent  Albanian  principality. 

After  entering  the  city  by  the  bridge  of 
Achmet  Pasha  we  rode  along  with  the  broad 
stream  of  the  Boiana  on  our  left  and  the  steep  rock 
of  the  Castle  on  our  right,  and  passed  the  ruined 
marble  baths  of  some  dead  and    gone    Albanian 


SCODRA  37 

Pasha  and  entered  the  bazaar  of  Scodra,  through 
alleys  which  were  very  narrow,  very  crowded,  very 
dirty  and  very  dark.  In  one  place  the  street  was 
roofed  in  with  trellis-work  across  from  roof  to  roof, 
an  arrangement  which,  if  it  kept  off  the  heat  of 
the  sun,  at  the  same  time  most  effectually  shut  out 
the  light.  Emerging  from  the  bazaar,  and  pass- 
ing an  ancient  well  on  the  left,  the  road  ran 
between  the  high,  white  stone  walls  which  hid 
the  houses  from  view,  passed  the  great  Turkish 
cemetery,  the  Konak  or  Government  House,  the 
Public  Garden,  and  reached  what  was  known  as 
the  quarter  of  the  Consulates  on  the  border  of  the 
Christian  and  Mahometan  quarters.  Here  were 
grouped  most  of  the  Consulates,  the  houses  of  the 
rich  Christian  merchants,  and  the  hotels  which  more 
or  less  catered  for  European  custom  when  Scodra 
was  not  in  a  state  of  siege. 

From  the  broad  open  place,  to  the  east  of  which 
most  of  the  better  class  Christian  houses  were 
built,  ran  the  busy  Fuschta  Chacto  street  to  the 
plain  of  the  Kiri  and  the  track  to  the  Great  Moun- 
tains and  Podgorica.  In  ordinary  times  it  was  one 
of  the  best  places  in  the  city  for  observing  the 
dresses  of  the  Christians  not  only  of  Scodra  but 
also  of  the  mountains  round  about.  It  contained 
several  locandas,  as  distinguished  from  the  Maho- 
metan khans,  in  which  the  Christians  of  the  town 


38  ALBANIA 

congregated    towards    evening,    sipping  raki   and 
maraschino  and  discussing  the  news   of  the  day. 
At  first  the  strange  medley  of  costumes  was  very 
puzzUng,     but     gradually     the    visitor    came    to 
recognize  the  Latin  merchants  of  the  city  by  their 
enormous  knickerbockers  made    of  some   sort  of 
deep  purple  calico,  their  double-breasted  waistcoats 
and  short  Eton  jackets  made  of  red  cloth  embroi- 
dered  with  black  silk,  their  large  red  fezes  with 
heavy  blue    silk   tassels,    and   their    white  cotton 
stockings.     But  to  this  old  Venetian  dress,  which 
after  all  was  only  moderately  picturesque,  they  too 
often  added  the  abomination  of  elastic-sided  boots 
with  the  straps  sticking  out  before    and    behind. 
The  dress  of  the  few  Orthodox  Slavs  of  Scodra 
was  similar  to  that  of  the  Latins,  except  that  their 
knickerbockers  were  of  heavy  blue  cloth,  and  that 
they  wore  low  shoes  on  their  feet  instead  of  the 
horrible  boots   alia  franca.       But    unfortunately 
these  quaint   dresses    are   disappearing  every  day 
and  the  merchants    are  taking  to  slop  suits  from 
Italy  and  Trieste,  which  are  nothing  but  iniquitous 
burlesques  of  European  costume,  and  which  trans- 
form  the    picturesque-looking    Albanian    into    a 
"  dago  "  of  the  most  appalling  type.     What  will 
happen  when  Scodra  is  one  of  the  principal  cities 
of    the    new  kingdom  and  open   to   visitors   and 
European  influences  is  beyond  prophecy. 


SCODRA  39 

As  the  Fiischta  Chacto  street  was  the  principal 
thoroughfare  from  the  mountains,  the  Christian 
mountaineers  from  the  Montenegrin  frontier 
passed  up  and  down  it  all  day  long  in  times 
of  peace.  They  were  tall,  well-made  men,  most 
of  them,  with  long  fair  moustaches,  keen  eyes, 
square  shoulders  and  stately  carriage,  though 
many  of  them  were  tattered,  downcast  men  with 
careworn  looks,  on  whom  hunger  and  poverty 
pressed  hardly.  Still,  whether  rich  or  poor,  well- 
dressed  or  ragged,  every  man  carried  his  cherished 
arms,  unless  the  order  which  obliged  the  moun- 
taineers to  leave  their  arms  at  the  guard-house 
on  entering  the  town  happened  to  be  in  force. 

All  the  mountain  tribes  of  the  north  and  north- 
east of  Scodra  wore,  with  some  slight  variations, 
the  same  dress.  The  usual  costume  of  the 
mountaineer  was  a  short,  black  jacket,  with  a 
deep  collar  ornamented  with  a  fringe  ;  a  double- 
breasted  waistcoat  of  white  cloth,  embroidered 
with  black  silk ;  trousers  of  the  same  material, 
tight  below  the  knee  and  in  some  cases  falling 
over  the  foot  like  a  gaiter  ;  opanke,  or  raw  hide 
sandals,  on  the  feet,  and  a  little  round  cloth  or 
cotton  cap  on  the  head.  In  winter  long  folds  of 
cotton  were  woimd  turban -wise  round  this  cap, 
and  were  brought  over  the  ears  and  under  the 
jaws ;   some  tribes  wore  a  sheepskin  in  very  cold 


40  ALBANIA 

weather,  but  in  summer  they  discarded  coat  and 
waistcoat  altogether  and  wore  a  loose  gauzy 
shirt  instead.  No  true  mountaineer  would  ever 
degrade  himself  by  carrying  anything.  If  he  was 
a  poor  man  the  women  of  the  family  carried  the 
burdens  ;  if  he  was  rich  he  had  a  horse.  The 
Christian  Albanians  could  not  ride,  and  took  no 
pride  in  their  horses,  but  drove  to  the  bazaar  the 
most  decrepit  and  broken-down  old  animals 
heavily  laden  with  panniers  of  country  produce. 

The  women  of  the  three  creeds  of  Scodra  wore 
variations  of  the  same  dress.  The  large,  loose 
Turkish  trousers  falling  over  the  ankle  were  made 
of  silk  in  the  case  of  the  Mahometans,  of  gaily 
patterned  cloth  in  the  case  of  the  Orthodox,  and 
of  horribly  crackling  glazed  calico  in  the  case 
of  the  Latin  Catholics.  Their  chemises  were  of 
the  silk  gauze  of  the  country,  with  large  hanging 
sleeves,  and  over  these  they  wore  a  little 
embroidered  waistcoat  which  acted  as  a  corset, 
and  a  short  jacket  of  coloured  cloth,  while  round 
their  waists  they  wound  a  huge  parti-coloured 
sash.  The  hair  was  plastered  down  at  the  sides, 
and  cropped  short  just  below  the  ears,  but  was 
suffered  to  grow  long  behind  and  knotted  up  at 
the  back  of  the  head.  Out  of  doors  they  enveloped 
themselves  from  head  to  knee  in  a  huge  cloak  of 
crimson,   blue  or  scarlet  cloth  according  to  their 


SCODRA  41 

religion.  The  Mahometan  and  Orthodox  women 
wore  a  more  richly  embroidered  dress  than  the 
Latin  Catholics,  and  in  fact  no  dress  more 
absolutely  unbecoming  to  women  has  ever  been 
invented  than  that  of  the  Latin  women  of  Scodra. 
But  in  a  few  years'  time  it  will  no  doubt  have 
disappeared  almost  entirely. 

The  mountaineer  women  wore  neither  trousers 
nor  veil,  but  a  short  skirt  of  thick,  felt-like  cloth 
reaching  to  the  knee,  and  a  bodice  or  jacket  of  the 
same  material,  both  garments  ornamented  with 
red  or  black  braiding.  As  often  as  not  they  went 
bare-legged  and  bare-footed,  but  in  cold  weather, 
or  when  fully  dressed,  they  wore  cloth  gaiters  and 
shoes.  Their  hair  was  generally  cropped  short  and 
surmounted  by  the  little  coin-covered  toque  of  the 
townswomen.  The  women  of  the  mountain  tribes 
were  sturdy  and  powerful,  and  often  beautiful  as 
children,  but  the  hard,  rough  life  they  led 
destroyed  all  their  good  looks  as  soon  as  they 
arrived  at  womanhood.  In  Albania  and  Monte- 
negro woman  was  the  beast  of  burden  of  the 
poorer  famiUes ;  she  did  the  household  drudgery 
of  the  hut,  and  all  but  the  very  roughest  work  in 
the  fields,  while  her  husband  or  brother  sat  upon  a 
stone  with  his  rifle  between  his  knees  and  a 
cigarette  between  his  lips.  When  the  fruits  of 
the    little    farm   were   taken    to   the   bazaar,    the 


44  ALBANIA 

trade  with  Europe,  own  shops  in  the  bazaar,  but 
also  the  INIahometan  beys  and  aghas.  Every  man 
who  respected  himself  spent  the  day  in  the  bazaar 
sitting  cross-legged  in  his  own  or  a  friend's  shop  ; 
and  no  better  way  could  be  imagined  of  studying 
life  in  Scodra  than  spending  the  morning  in  the 
shop  of  some  man  of  importance,  sipping  coffee, 
smoking  cigarettes,  and  examining  pistols,  yata- 
ghans with  carved  silver  hilts,  long  guns,  inlaid 
knives,  filagree  cigarette  holders,  delicate  silk 
fabrics,  and  all  the  other  native  wrought  goods 
of  North  Albania  brought  in  for  inspection  by 
friends  and  neighbours.  No  one  advertised  or 
puffed  his  wares,  or  pressed  the  visitor  to  buy. 
The  artificers  and  workmen  plied  the  hammer,  the 
chisel  or  the  needle,  while  the  masters  exchanged 
cigarettes  and  the  last  piece  of  news  brought  in 
from  the  coast  or  the  interior.  Montenegrins  were 
frequently  to  be  seen  in  the  bazaar  buying  goods 
which  were  not  obtainable  in  their  country,  and 
laughing  and  talking  with  their  friends  and 
connections.  In  former  times  many  a  frontier 
war  was  caused  by  a  squabble  over  a  bazaar  trans- 
action, for  when  both  parties  went  about  armed  it 
needed  but  a  slight  spark  to  set  their  latent 
animosities  in  a  blaze. 

Most  of  the   foreign   visitors  too,  and   indeed 
many  of  the  residents  in  Scodra,  never  got  that 


SCODllA  45 

deeper  insight  into  the  life  of  the  country  whicli 
was   afforded   by   an    invitation   to   an    Albanian 
house.     The   streets    in   the   Mahometan   quarter 
were  narrow  and  paved  with  large  round  cobble 
stones,    which     made    walking     rather     difficult. 
Occasionally  great    stepping   stones   were   placed 
across   the   road,    for   incredible   as    it   seemed   in 
summer,  the  streets  of  Scodra  were  watercourses 
in  the  wintertime  when  the  Boiana  and  the  Drin 
overflowed  their  low  banks,  and  the  Kiri  rushed  a 
foaming    torrent    from     the     narrow    ravines    of 
Drivasto.     The  houses  stood  in  gardens  or  court- 
yards surrounded  by  high  walls,  and   guarded  by 
luige  gateways  with  massive,  iron-studded  doors, 
flanked  with  narrow  apertures  through  which  an 
enemy  attempting  to  break  open  the  gate  could  be 
shot  down.    In  the  centre  of  an  Albanian  courtyard 
there  was  always   a  well  with   a  curious  double- 
handed   pulley   for   raising    the   bucket,   and   the 
house  itself  was  built  of  cobble  stones  from  the  bed 
of  the  Kiri  and  plastered  white,  with  a  tiled  roof 
stretching  out  beyond  the  walls  in  low,  wide  eaves 
which  afforded  shade  in  summer  and   protection 
from  the   rain   in   winter.     Albanian  houses   had 
only   one    storey,    the    ground    floor   being    used 
for   stowing  provisions   and    as    stabling   for   the 
horses  and   cattle.      All    the   living    rooms    were 
on  the  flrst  floor,  and  were  reached  by  an  open 


46  ALBANIA 

wooden  staircase  which  gave  access  to  a  broad 
balcony  running  across  the  whole  front  of  the 
house  with  the  doors  of  the  inner  rooms  opening 
out  of  it.  When  a  man  entered  the  women  all 
scuttled  off  to  the  harem  like  frightened  rabbits, 
except  the  mountaineer  servants,  who  looked  on 
with  placid  indifference  as  the  strangers  were 
ushered  into  the  selamlik  or  reception-room. 

The  flooring  of  the  principal  rooms  in  a  Scodra 
house  was  covered  with  rush  matting,  which  was 
not  brought  into  the  house  ready  made,  but  was 
manufactured  in  the  room  and  for  the  room,  being 
worked  into  every  recess  and  corner  by  a 
mountaineer  who  squatted  cross-legged  on  the  floor, 
with  his  mouth  full  of  rushes,  plaiting  rapidly  and 
dexterously.  On  the  matting  were  spread  several 
brilliantly  coloured  carpets,  and  round  the  walls 
ran  low  divans  covered  with  red  cloth,  the  room 
possessing  neither  tables  nor  chairs.  There  were 
almost  invariably  three  windows  in  the  thick  walls, 
each  one  protected  by  carved  wooden  bars  outside 
and  by  heavy  shutters  inside,  looking  out  on  the 
neglected  garden.  The  fireplace  was  a  curious, 
ecclesiastically  shaped  structure,  carved  in  stone 
and  carefully  whitewashed,  jutting  out  into  the 
room  over  a  large  stone  slab  on  which  a  huge 
log  fire  was  lighted  upon  occasions.  This  fireplace 
was  a  great  ornament   in  an  Albanian  room  but 


SCODRA  47 

was  seldom  used,  as  a  mangaU  or  flat  brazier  full  of 
red-hot  glowing  charcoal  was  preferred  in  winter 
in  spite  of  the  poisonous  fumes  it  gives  out.  The 
rooms  were  not  very  lofty,  but  the  windows  never 
reached  to  the  ceiling,  and  just  above  them  a  broad 
wooden  shelf,  carved  with  many  a  quaint  design, 
ran  round  the  room,  starting  from  either  side  of  the 
fireplace.  On  this  shelf  were  ranged  vast  metal 
dishes  which  held  a  whole  roast  lamb  on  feast  days, 
and  perhaps  two  or  three  dozen  willow-pattern 
plates  brought  from  Malta,  which  were  looked 
upon  as  great  treasures.  Opposite  the  fireplace 
was  a  deep  recess,  wood-panelled,  containing  a  noble 
carved  oak  chest  showing  traces  of  its  Venetian 
origin  in  the  lions'  feet  that  supported  it.  In  this 
the  master  of  the  house  kept  the  treasures  of  his 
wardrobe  :  long  scarlet  coats  with  hanging  sleeves 
elaborately  worked  in  black  silk,  huge  knicker- 
bockers of  red  cloth  similarly  ornamented,  beautiful 
shirts  of  the  finest  silk  gauze  with  lace  collars 
a  foot  deep,  rolls  of  silk  gauze  striped  in  various 
colours,  purple  velvet  waistcoats  stiff  and  heavy  with 
gold  embroidery,  worked  gaiters,  long  silk  scarves 
and  sashes  glowing  with  every  colour  of  the  rainbow, 
and  all  the  gorgeous  Oriental  frippery  of  an  xVlbanian 
agha's  wardrobe.  On  the  w^alls  hung  pushkas,  or 
long  guns,  pistols  and  yataghans,  all  splendidly 
decorated  with  carved  silver  ornamentation. 


48  ALBANIA 

Immediately  on  entering  the   guest  was   pre- 
sented  with    cigarettes,  and    in   a   few  moments 
a  serving  man  came   in   with   tumblers   of  some 
sweet,    pink    fluid.      He    then   hurried    out    and 
returned  at  once  with  tiny  cups  of  very  hot  coffee, 
the  cups  handleless  and  balanced  in  silver  filagree 
zm-fs  shaped  like  egg  cups.     Then  a  plate  of  large, 
white  sugar-plums  was  handed  round,  followed  by 
more  coffee,    for   Albanian  hospitality   demanded 
that   the   appetite   of  a    guest   should    never    be 
neglected.     As  soon  as  one  cigarette  showed  signs 
of  burning  to  its  end  others  were  brought  forward, 
and   the   guest    could    not   refuse    under  penalty 
of  beino-  thousrht  churlish.     The   coffee   and   the 
pink    and    yellow    liquids   had   to   be   swallowed 
somehow,  but  the  hard,  white  sweetmeats  could  be 
discreetly  conveyed  to  the  handkerchief,  and  then 
shaken   out   into   the    roadway   when   at    a    safe 
distance  from  the  house.    For  the  rest  an  Albanian 
agha  had  nothing  but  his  arms  and  fine  dresses  to 
show  ;  no  books,  no  pictures,  no  sign  of  intellectual 
life.    On  the  return  from  the  bazaar  or  the  covmtry 
every    evening     supper    was   cooked ;     cigarettes 
and  gossip  followed,  enlivened,  perhaps,  by  some 
plaintive  air  thrummed  on  the  two  wire  strings  of 
an  Albanian  mandoline  ;  and  then,  one  by  one,  the 
family  retired  to  the  inner  rooms,  or  rolled  them- 
selves upon  the  broad  divans  and  went   to  sleep 


SCODRA  49 

there.  A  barren,  profitless  and,  one  would  think, 
joyless  existence ;  and  yet,  in  spite  of  all,  the 
Albanian  agha  was  a  courteous  and  polished 
gentleman,  who  exercised  his  hospitality  with  the 
ease  and  dignity  of  a  man  who  has  spent  his  life 
in  courts. 

The  blood-feuds  which  used  to  be  so  common  in 
Scodra  and  the  mountains  were  gradually  dying 
out,  for  the  authorities  and  the  priests  had  set 
their  faces  against  the  practice  for  many  years 
past.  But  the  factors  which  had  the  greatest 
influence  in  putting  down  the  practice  were  the 
poverty  from  which  Albania  had  suffered  for  years 
and  the  enforcing  of  the  edict  against  carrying 
arms  in  the  city.  Formerly  no  Mahometan 
Albanian  ever  went  outside  his  house  without  an 
arsenal  of  small  arms  in  his  belt,  and  even  the 
poorest  had  his  pistol  or  cheap  revolver.  Only  the 
Christians  in  the  town  might  not  bear  arms,  but 
the  Christian  mountaineers  in  defiance  of  edicts 
always  paraded  the  streets  armed  to  the  teeth. 
But  whenever  the  Turks  felt  themselves  strong 
enough  they  enforced  the  edict,  though  if  ever 
they  wished  to  arm  the  people  as  a  threat  against 
Montenegro  they  withdrew  the  prohibition,  and 
even  armed  the  Albanians  themselves.  Before  the 
late  war  the  Turks  armed  the  townsmen  against 
the  mountain  tribes  who  were  attacking  Tusi,  and 


50  ALBANIA 

the  cherished  pistols  and  yataghans  were  brought 
out  again.  In  the  old  days  Ilamazan  and  Bairam 
were  always  the  causes  of  deaths,  sometimes  as 
many  as  twenty  or  thirty  lives  being  lost  over  a 
squabble  about  nothing  at  all.  When  the 
JNlahometan  Albanians  had  been  fasting  all  a  long 
summer's  day,  and  were  irritated  by  seeing 
Christians  looking  fat  and  well  fed,  fights  were  of 
frequent  occurrence,  and  even  in  ordinary  times  a 
bully  would  pick  a  quarrel  with  a  Christian  for 
sheer  wantonness. 

To  the  casual  observer  the  Albanians  seemed  to 
be  always  rebelling  and  fighting  for  no  reason 
whatever.  But  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  they 
were  never  really  conquered  by  the  Turks,  and 
that  in  their  mountains  they  did  very  much  as 
they  liked.  They  were  faithful  to  Abdul  Hamid 
because  he  was  on  the  whole  an  easy-going  task- 
master, and  they  were  shrewd  enough  to  see  that 
he  and  the  Ottoman  Empire  were  a  bulwark 
between  them  and  some  of  the  European  Powers. 
But  the  Roman  Catholic  mountaineers  sided  with 
Montenegro  when  war  was  declared  because  of 
their  disgust  at  the  rule  of  the  Young  Turks. 
They  were  promised  those  fine  sounding  words, 
Liberty  and  a  Constitution,  phrases  which  they 
interpreted  to  mean  freedom  from  the  control  of 
Constantinople,  while  the  Young  Turks  read  them 


SCODRA  51 

as  meaning  all  the  tyranny  of  a  modern 
bureaucracy  tempered  by  the  farce  of  parliamentary 
institutions.  With  such  contrasting  ideals  the  two 
parties  naturally  came  into  conflict,  for  the 
Albanians  strongly  objected  to  the  regular  pay- 
ment of  taxes,  the  use  of  the  Turkish  language  in 
the  state  schools,  and  the  enforcement  of  military 
service  in  the  Asiatic  provinces. 

But  the  Turk,  the  latest  intruder  in  Albania, 
has  now  gone  from  the  land,  and  the  city  of  Scodra 
will  return  to  the  position  it  occupied  nearly  three 
thousand  years  ago  w^hen  it  was  the  chief  town  of 
the  Illyrian  tribes  under  their  native  kings. 
JNIany  conquerors  have  passed  over  it,  but  the 
stubborn  race  which  is  now  known  as  Albanian 
has  survived  them  all.  It  now  only  remains  for 
the  people  of  Scodra  to  justify  the  trust  which 
Europe  has  reposed  in  them  as  the  leaders  of  the 
new  kingdom,  and  if  doggedness,  independence, 
and  the  vital  force  which  can  live  through  all 
vicissitudes  of  fortune,  count  for  anything  in 
modern  Europe,  they  should  not  be  found  wanting. 


IV 

KAVASSES    AND     SERVANTS 

So  much  for  the  capital  of  Albania  and  its 
inhabitants  in  general.  Now  we  will  deal  with 
them  in  greater  detail,  first  of  all  touching  on  the 
life  which  a  European  had  to  lead  in  that  out-of- 
the-way  corner  of  the  world.  As  yet  Scodra  has 
not  been  modernized  like  Belgrade  and  Sofia,  and 
in  a  far  lesser  degree,  Cettigne.  But  doubtless 
that  will  come,  and  the  old  life  will  pass  away  to 
be  replaced  by  a  bastard  civilization  which  will 
form  a  thin  veneer  over  the  true  manners  and 
customs  of  the  people,  just  as  it  does  in  the  other 
Balkan  capitals. 

Most  of  the  streets  in  Scodra  were  far  from 
gay  ;  there  was  no  gas  and  no  electricity.  The 
roadway  was  generally  loose  and  pebbly,  for  it 
served  the  double  purpose  of  a  road  in  dry  weather 
and  of  a  watercourse  in  the  winter  when  the  Kiri 
overflowed.  At  intervals,  usually  in  front  of  some 
great  gateway  with  massive  wooden  doors,  were 
rows  of  boulders  which  acted  as  stepping-stones  in 


KAVASSES   AND    SERVANTS         53 

the  rainy  season  for  those  who  wished  to  cross 
the  street.  The  footpath  was  a  raised  causeway, 
sometimes  a  couple  of  feet  above  the  road,  in  order 
to  avoid  the  floods.  There  was  no  view  at  all ;  for 
on  either  hand  rose  high  walls  of  cobble-stones, 
over  which  might  perhaps  be  seen  the  red  roofs  of 
the  houses  they  encircled,  and  the  trees  which 
beautified  the  courtyards  and  gardens  kept  so 
jealously  guarded  from  the  public  eye. 

My  own  httle  cottage  will  perhaps  serve  as  a 
type  of  the  houses  in  Scodra.  Like  the  rest  it  was 
hidden  away  behind  its  high  stone  walls,  and  its 
gateway  was  a  huge  and  imposing  affair  like  the 
entrance  to  a  fortress.  In  front  of  the  house  was  a 
bare  Uttle  courtyard  paved  with  cobble-stones,  and 
containing  the  well  with  its  curious  hand-windlass 
for  drawing  up  the  Avater.  For  some  reason  or 
other  this  courtyard  was  covered  in  autumn  with 
a  luxuriant  growth  of  camomile,  which  rendered 
the  hot  air  heavy  with  a  medicinal  odour,  and 
made  walking  difficult  except  in  the  paths  that  got 
worn  through  the  mass.  It  never  entered  into 
any  one's  head  to  uproot  this  growtli ;  it  was  there, 
and  we  accepted  it  with  resignation.  Beyond  the 
courtyard,  and  separated  from  it  by  a  slight  fence, 
was  the  garden.  It  contained  two  or  three  olive 
trees,  half  a  dozen  vines,  and  a  couple  of  mulberry 
trees,   representing   the   three   staple   products  of 


54  ALBANIA 

Scodra — oil,  wine  iind  silk.  To  my  own  exertions 
were  due  the  magnificent  crop  of  tomatoes,  the 
green  peas,  the  other  vegetables,  and  the  glorious 
mass  of  flowers  in  one  corner. 

The  house  itself  faced  this  little  domain,  and 
was  a  small,  one-storied  cottage  built,  like  the  wall 
and  everything  else  in  the  city,  with  cobble-stones 
from  the  bed  of  the  Kiri,  and  plastered  white  all 
over.     The  roof  was  low,  and  the  eaves  projected 
far  over  the  walls,  giving  shelter  from  the  burning 
sun  in  summer  and  from  the  pitiless  rain  in  winter. 
On  the  ground-floor  was  nothing  but  a  servant's 
room,  the  rest  being  a  wide  open  space  where  wood, 
charcoal   and  other  stores  were  kept,  and  where 
the  Albanians  had  formerly  stabled  their  horses  and 
cattle.      The  house  was  really  the  half  of  a  larger 
building,  but  was  cut  off  from  the  other  part  many 
years  ago.     The  open  balcony,  which  runs  along  the 
front  of  all  the  houses  of  Scodra,  had  been  shut  in 
to  make  a  bedroom  and  an  entrance  hall ;  while  the 
ladder,  which   formerly   gave   access   to   the   first 
floor,   had   been   roofed  over   and   turned   into   a 
staircase.       On   this,   the   only   floor,   there   were 
besides  the  entrance  hall,  two  bedrooms,  a  sitting- 
room  and  a  kitchen.      There  was  nothing  remark- 
able  about   the   other  rooms  ;    but  my  bedroom, 
which  was  in  all  probability  the  harem  when  an 
Albanian  family  occupied  it,  was  a  typical  native 


KAVASSES   AND    SERVANTS         55 

room.  It  was  lighted  by  tliree  small,  square 
windows  whieh  were  guarded  by  an  ornamental 
wooden  lattice.  The  windows  were  about  a  foot 
from  the  ground,  and  only  went  half-way  up  the 
wall  to  where  a  broad  shelf  of  carved  wood  ran  all 
round  the  room,  and  was  the  general  receptacle  for 
every  odd  and  end  that  could  be  stowed  away 
nowhere  else.  Between  two  of  the  windows  was 
the  fireplace,  a  curious  whitewashed  monument 
resembling  a  small  shrine.  The  hearthstone  was  a 
broad  octagonal  slab,  and  was  used  on  grand 
occasions  for  burning  a  whole  log  of  wood  at  a 
time,  as  our  ancestors  burned  the  Yule-log. 
Opposite  the  fireplace  was  a  deep  alcove,  panelled 
with  carved  wood ;  and  above  it  was  a  sort  of 
balcony,  to  which  access  was  given  by  a  tiny 
staircase  hidden  in  the  wall.  This  recess  once  con- 
tained the  carved  oak  chest  in  which  an  Albanian 
bride's  trousseau  is  stored,  but  it  served  me  as  a 
wardrobe  for  my  clothes  and  as  a  convenient  place 
for  ranging  my  boots,  over  which  huge  rats 
tumbled  and  disported  themselves  all  night  long. 

Next  door  was  the  kitchen  where,  with  the 
most  primitive  of  stoves  and  two  or  three  tin  pots, 
Simon  the  cook  contrived  to  elaborate  the  most 
excellent  dishes.  I  was  proud  of  my  cook,  and 
with  reason,  for  he  was  about  the  best  cook  in 
Scodra;  indeed,  on  his  own  showing,  he  was  the 


56  ALBANIA 

only  one.  Occasionally  he  became  inflated  with 
pride  and  got  restive,  but  was  quickly  brought  to 
reason  by  the  threat  of  sending  to  Trieste  for  a 
cook.  Of  course  I  had  no  such  absurd  intention  ; 
but  Simon  was  given  over  to  the  idea,  which  is  still 
prevalent  in  some  places  abroad,  that  the  Bank  of 
England  cellars  are  full  of  new  sovereigns,  and 
that  Englishmen  have  only  got  to  go  and  take 
a  few  shovelfuls  when  they  want  money  for  any 
of  their  mad  freaks.  With  such  inexhaustible 
resources  behind  me  Simon  felt  that  I  might  even 
go  to  the  extravagance  of  sending  to  Trieste  for  a 
cook,  and  so  he  subsided  among  his  pots  and  pans. 
He  had  a  wife  and  family  somewhere  in  the  town 
and  did  not  sleep  in  the  house,  but  disappeared 
soon  after  dinner  to  reappear  early  the  next 
morning. 

UnUke  the  cook  who  was  a  Roman  Catholic 
Albanian,  Achmet,  my  personal  servant,  was  a 
pure  Turk.  He  was  what  corresponds  to  a 
University  graduate  in  Turkey  ;  but  still,  though 
he  was  a  learned  man  and  wrote  his  intricate 
language  with  the  greatest  ease  and  neatness,  he 
did  not  disdain  to  put  his  entire  energies  into  my 
service  for  the  time  being.  And  energies  they 
were.  He  had  none  of  the  traditional  gravity  of 
the  Turk,  and  no  one  had  ever  yet  seen  him  walk. 
Correctly  attired  in  a  dark  suit,  and  with  his  fez 


KAVASSES   AND   SERVANTS        57 

sticking  straight  up  on  his  head,  he  went  about  his 
marketing  errands  at  a  gait  half  shuffle,  half  trot, 
his  beady  little  brown  eyes  glittering,  and  his 
umbrella  tightly  tucked  under  his  arm.  Achmet 
must  have  been  possessed  of  some  little  property 
when  he  had  finished  his  education,  for  somehow 
or  other  he  foolishly  became  the  government's 
creditor  for  a  considerable  sum  of  money,  and, 
which  argued  a  simple  soul,  he  seems  to  have 
expected  to  be  repaid.  For  a  long  time  the 
worthy  Achmet's  importunities  were  met  with  fair 
words  ;  but  as  he  at  last  became  wearisome,  he 
was  given  an  order  for  his  money  on  the  treasury 
of  the  vilayet  of  Scodra,  to  insure  his  leaving 
Constantinople.  He  arrived  almost  penniless  in 
Scodra,  where  the  Vali  Pasha,  who  had  not  been 
able  to  pay  his  troops  for  months  and  who  did  not 
know  where  to  turn  for  supplies  of  food  for  his 
men,  treated  the  order  on  his  empty  treasury  with 
scant  ceremony.  Poor  Achmet  was  then  at  his 
wits'  end ;  he  fell  ill  from  sheer  privation,  and  was 
taken  to  the  military  hospital  where,  when  he  grew 
stronger,  he  acted  as  general  servant  for  his  daily 
bread.  That  was  his  darkest  hour.  He  had  lost 
everything  but  a  ragged  suit  of  clothes,  and  the 
papers  that  proved  the  government's  indebtedness 
to  him  ;  when  one  day  he  heard  that  the  Austrian 
vice-consul   had   discharged  his   servant   and   was 


58  ALBANIA 

looking  for  another.  Aclimet  at  once  applied  for 
the  place,  but  was  so  miserable  an  object,  and  so 
ignorant  of  European  ways,  that  it  was  with  great 
hesitation  the  vice-consul  allowed  him  to  come  for 
a  week  or  two  on  trial,  as  there  was  no  one  else  to 
be  had.  In  a  month  Achmet  had  become  a  very 
different  being  ;  his  illness,  brought  on  by  hunger 
and  despair,  had  completely  left  him ;  he  had 
bought  a  neat,  dark  suit  of  clothes  with  his  first 
wages,  and  had  become  so  excellent  and  trust- 
worthy a  servant  that  his  master  would  not  have 
parted  with  him  under  any  consideration.  When 
the  Austrian  left  Scodra  Achmet  came  to  me,  and 
a  more  faithful  and  hard-working  servant  no  man 
was  ever  blessed  with  in  the  East  or  elsewhere. 

At  the  Consulate-General  the  two  most 
imposing  and  gorgeous  personages  of  the  house- 
hold staff  were  the  kavasses,  Simon  and  Marco, 
both  of  them,  like  my  cook,  Roman  Catholic 
Albanians  of  the  city.  The  only  Christians  of 
Scodra  who  were  allowed  to  wear  the  fustanelle  or 
full  white  linen  petticoat  of  the  Mahometan 
Albanians  were  the  kavasses  of  the  consulates,  and 
they  were  intensely  proud  of  the  privilege.  Simon, 
the  chief  kavass,  was  a  perfect  type  of  the 
Shkypetar,  to  use  the  name  by  which  the 
Albanians  have  always  called  themselves.  He  was 
a  tall,  lean,  muscular  man  with  a  hawk-like  face, 


KAVASSES    AND   SERVANTS         59 

keen  blue  eyes  and  a  long  fair  moustache.  On  his 
head  he  wore  tlie  Hat  crimson  fez  of  tlie  men  of 
Scodra,  with  its  heavy  blue  silk  tassel,  and  with 
the  royal  arms  in  brass  across  the  front.  His 
jacket,  waistcoat  and  gaiters  were  of  crimson  cloth 
embroidered  with  gold  wire  and  black  silk,  and  his 
fustanelle  was  of  the  finest  white  linen  made  with 
hundreds  of  gores,  which  swayed  to  and  fro  as  he 
walked  with  the  most  invincible  swagger.  Indeed, 
when  Simon  was  on  duty  and  preceding  his 
master  to  call  on  the  Pasha  or  some  other  notable, 
not  even  the  most  conceited  young  Agha  could 
surpass  him  in  the  haughtiness  of  his  swagger  or  in 
the  contemptuousness  of  the  half  smile  under  his 
bristling  moustache.  A  kavass  was  a  very  great 
man,  and  Simon  was  thoroughly  aware  of  the  fact. 
In  strong  contrast  to  him  was  old  JMarco,  who 
combined  the  functions  of  second  kavass  and 
gardener,  and  who  spent  most  of  the  day  hoeing 
away  at  the  hard  soil  with  no  protection  for  his 
head  against  the  sun  but  a  little  white  cotton  skull- 
cap. Old  JMarco  was  a  character  in  his  way,  and 
his  appearance  was  peculiar.  He  w^as  of  short  and 
sturdy  build,  and  not  of  such  a  true-bred  Shkypetar 
appearance  as  Simon.  His  features  were  indeter- 
minate, and  not  only  was  he  short  but  he  had, 
probably  from  motives  of  economy,  furnished 
himself  with  one  of  the  very  shortest  of  fustanelles. 


60  ALBANIA 

so  that  he  looked  hke  an  elderly  ballet  dancer  in 
unusually  scanty  skirts.  But  for  him  this  garment 
represented  all  that  was  gorgeous  in  the  matter  of 
dress  ;  and  so,  to  protect  it  when  he  was  gardening, 
or  not  on  duty,  he  had  manufactured  out  of  some 
old  sacks  an  enormous  pair  of  loose  trousers, 
into  which  he  packed  himself  and  his  fustanelle. 

He  was  a  most  good-natured  and  obliging  old 
man,  but  his  chief  drawback  was  that  he  spoke  no 
language  but  his  own,  and  was  very  dense  in 
understanding  what  was  meant  by  signs,  so  that  it 
was  exceedingly  difficult  to  communicate  with  him 
at  all.  He  was  a  devout  and  superstitious  Roman 
Catholic,  and  literally  starved  himself  all  Lent, 
eating  nothing  but  a  little  maize  bread  and  drinking 
nothing  but  water ;  but,  on  the  principle  of  making 
up  for  lost  time,  he  gorged  himself  so  piggishly  at 
the  feast  which  was  always  given  to  the  servants  on 
Easter  Day  that  his  much-abused  digestion  revolted 
and  he  appeared  on  Monday  morning  a  groaning 
and  miserable  object.  His  first  petition  then  was 
for  "  Sale  Inglese "  or  Epsom  Salts,  which  were 
considered  a  notable  remedy  by  his  compatriots, 
and  in  the  evening  he  dosed  himself  recklessly, 
only  to  reappear  next  morning  as  haggard  and 
ghastly  as  a  galvanized  mummy.  He  groaned  and 
sighed  over  his  work  for  a  day  or  two,  but  such 
was   the   wonderful   constitution   of  this  leathery 


KAVASSES   AND   SERVANTS        61 

old  man,  that  before  the  week  was  out  he  was  as 
hearty  and  as  active  as  ever. 

As  a  kavass  Marco  was  unimpressive,  but  as  a 
gardener  he  was  without  a  rival.  He  and  his 
colleague  divided  the  duties  of  the  kavasskhana 
between  them.  Simon  was  ornamental  and 
awe-inspiring  ;  JMarco  good-natured  and  laborious. 


V 

THE     BOULEVARD     DIPLOMATIQUE 

In  Albania  there  is  no  interval  of  transition 
between  the  rainy  season  and  the  hot  weather.  At 
the  end  of  INIay  the  rains  abruptly  cease,  and  until 
the  first  great  thunderstorm  in  September  there  is 
an  almost  unvarying  and  blazing  heat.  But  the 
snow,  which  remains  on  the  mountain  tops  until 
July,  every  now  and  then  sends  a  bitter  blast  down 
into  the  plains,  which  cuts  like  a  knife  and  causes 
a  good  deal  of  lung  trouble  among  the  people. 
This  state  of  things  lasts  for  about  a  month,  and 
then  follow  some  ten  weeks  of  sweltering  heat  in 
which  the  middle  of  the  day  is  sacred  to  rest  and 
shade,  even  the  hardiest  mountaineers  not  caring  to 
expose  themselves  to  the  heat  of  the  sun. 

In  the  summer  it  was  the  custom  of  the 
European  colony  to  postpone  the  afternoon  walk 
until  the  late  afternoon  when  the  tall  trees  began 
to  throw  a  pleasant  shade,  and  a  gentle  breeze 
usually  cooled  the  heated  atmosphere.  When  the 
wide-eaved    houses    shadowed    the    width   of  the 


THE  BOULEVxVRl)    DITLOMATIQUE     03 

streets,  Scodra  gradiuiUy  roused  itself  from  its 
afternoon's  doze.  Tlie  day  was  almost  unendur- 
able indoors,  even  with  all  the  blinds  drawn  down 
on  the  sunny  side  of  the  house  and  with  all  the 
windows  open,  but  at  last  the  faint  rustling  of  the 
leaves  outside  told  that  a  little  breeze  had  come  to 
cool  us,  and  that  the  hour  for  the  evening 
promenade  had  arrived. 

My  chief  and  I  descended  into  the  garden, 
which  looked  sadly  sun-baked  and  felt  like  an  oven, 
with  every  breath  of  air  shut  out  by  the  twelve  or 
fourteen  feet  of  cobble  walls  by  which  it  was 
surrounded.  In  the  shade  outside  the  kavasskhana 
Simon,  the  head  kavass,  was  squatting  on  the 
ground  with  his  eyes  half  shut,  blowing  long 
streams  of  blue  cigarette  smoke  through  his  hooked 
nose.  He  roused  himself  sufficiently  to  rise  to  his 
feet  as  we  came  down,  but  the  moment  our  backs 
were  turned  relapsed  into  his  former  attitude.  In 
the  garden  wall  was  a  postern  gate  and,  passing 
through  it,  we  crossed  the  one  plank  bridge  that 
spanned  the  little  stream  surrounding  the  house  and 
garden,  and  entered  the  public  garden.  There  was 
always  a  large  colony  of  ducks  feeding  by  the 
stream  in  the  late  afternoon,  and  regularly  every 
day  our  approach  sent  them  quacking  and  waddling 
in  every  direction,  giving  occasion  for  some  ill- 
conditioned  joker  to  declare  that  one  could  always 


64  ALBANIA 

tell  when  the  English  were  coming  because  of  the 
"  canards  "  which  preceded  them.  Jokes  were  rare 
with  us,  and  the  little  European  colony  subsisted 
on  this  one  for  more  than  a  year. 

The  public  garden  was  the  invention  of  the 
Vali  Hussein  Husni  Pasha,  who  turned  a  waste  bit 
of  land,  where  all  the  old  tin  pots  and  general 
refuse  of  the  quarter  were  thrown,  into  a  pleasant 
garden  with  plenty  of  shrubs  and  flowers  in  the 
beds,  and  a  kiosk  in  the  centre.  Beyond  the 
public  garden  ran  a  road  up  and  down  which 
the  consuls  and  vice-consuls  and  all  the  aristocracy 
of  the  European  colony  promenaded  every  day 
before  sunset,  and  for  this  reason  it  was  known  as 
the  Boulevard  Diplomatique  or  Village  Green — a 
witticism  which  had  a  great  success  before  the 
"  canard  "  joke  was  invented. 

Owing  to  the  disturbed  state  of  the  Near  East 
one  of  the  little  Balkan  kingdoms  had  a  representa- 
tive among  us.  His  house  looked  out  upon  the 
"  Boulevard,"  and  at  whatever  hour  we  went  into 
the  public  garden  we  could  make  sure  of  catching 
a  glimpse  of  our  friend  half  hidden  behind  the 
window  curtain,  peeping  up  and  down  the  road  to 
see  who  was  coming  or  going,  and  no  doubt 
gathering  plenty  of  material  for  those  voluminous 
despatches  which  he  wrote  to  his  government 
every  week  on  the  political  situation,  and  read  over 


SCODKA. 
OM  houso,  formerlv  the  Britisli  f'onsulate-Geueral. 


SCODRA. 

The  Public  Garden  of  Hussein  Hiisni  Pasha. 


THE  BOULEV^VUD    DIPr.OxMATIQUE     G5 

to  himself  witli  evident  satisfaction  and  many 
clniekles.  It  was  well  that  he  had  a  talent  for 
seeing  what  was  going  on  all  over  the  Near  East 
from  his  sitting-room  window,  for  all  the  summer 
he  was  a  prisoner  in  his  rooms  unless  he  could 
attach  himself  to  some  valiant  European  who  had 
no  fear  of  cows.  It  was  fai-  too  hot  to  go  out 
except  just  before  sunset,  and  at  that  hour  he 
dared  not  stir  alone,  for  the  cattle  were  then  driven 
in  from  their  pastures  outside  the  city,  and  he  had 
a  mortal  terror  of  cows.  Our  appearance  in  the 
road  was  instantly  perceived  by  him,  and  he  quitted 
his  window  to  place  himself  under  our  protection. 
He  was  a  tall,  thin,  sallow-faced  man,  with  the 
beard  and  walk  of  a  conceited  goat,  and  was  care- 
fully dressed  for  the  afternoon  promenade  in  a  long, 
black  frock  coat  tightly  buttoned  up,  and  with  a 
pair  of  kneed  trousers  falling  awkwardly  over  his 
broad,  flat  shoes.  Round  his  throat  he  wore  a 
little  black  bow,  and  on  his  head  a  billy-cock  hat, 
very  high  in  the  crown  and  narrow  in  the  brim. 
He  flattered  himself  that  he  was  a  brilliant  French 
scholar,  but  as  he  had  never  been  in  Frankish 
Europe  his  French  savoured  very  much  of  the 
back  numbers  of  the  Revue  des  Deux  Mojidcs. 
From  that  periodical  he  used  to  copy  a  paper  full 
of  long-winded  phrases,  which  he  always  carried 
about  in  his  pocket  to  be  learned  for  future  use  in 

F 


66  ALBANIA 

conversation,  when  there  was  no  one  to  talk  to  and 
it  was  too  dark  to  look  out  of  the  window.  His 
two  topics  of  conversation  were  himself  and  "  mon 
pays,"  and  his  ignorance  on  European  matters  was 
of  the  blandly  self-satisfied,  not-to-be-convinced 
order;  but  for  that  very  reason  he  was  a  most 
entertaining  companion,  and  our  constant  com- 
panion in  our  afternoon  stroll.  He  was  capital 
fun,  for  so  sublime  was  his  self-consciousness  that 
he  always  imagined  every  one  to  be  either  looking 
at  or  talking  of  him,  and  got  into  agonies  if  he 
heard  people  laugh  without  knowing  what  it  was 
they  were  laughing  at.  Life  would  have  been 
distinctly  duller  in  Scodra  without  him. 

Soon  we  were  joined  by  the  chancellier  of  a 
Western  power,  with  his  gold-laced  cap  on  his  head, 
his  eternal  cigarette  in  his  mouth  and  his  celebrated 
dog  Fox  by  his  side.  The  previous  autumn  Fox 
had  been  given  up  for  dead,  as  a  snake  bit  her  on 
the  lip  when  we  were  out  shooting  on  the  plain. 
We  had  some  of  the  natives  with  us,  and  after 
they  had  killed  the  snake  they  looked  about  for  a 
certain  plant  without  success  for  some  time ;  and 
when  they  did  find  it  poor  Fox  was  stretched  out 
stiff  and  lifeless.  The  Albanians  said  it  was  too 
late,  but  one  of  them,  as  he  had  found  the  leaf, 
thought  that  he  might  as  well  use  it,  so,  chewing  a 
Uttle  of  the  plant,  he  placed  it  on  the  wound  and 


THE  BOULEVARD   DIPLOMATIQUE     G7 

down  Fox's  throat.  We  then  placed  the  poor  dog 
under  a  hedge  and  covered  her  with  branches  of 
the  wait-a-bit  thorn.  That  was  on  November  the 
twentieth ;  on  the  twenty-fourth  Fox  turned  up 
ahve,  but  very  weak  and  thin,  at  her  master's  door. 
Strangely  enough  the  remedy  had  not  been  applied 
too  late,  and  the  dog  recovered  to  become  a 
celebrity. 

Her  master  was  a  capital  fellow  and  a  sports- 
man, but  rather  too  careless  to  be  a  pleasant 
companion  after  the  birds.  If  I  went  first  through 
a  gap  he  scrambled  after  me  with  his  gun  at  full 
cock  held  loosely  under  his  arm  ;  if  I  made  him  go 
first  he  trailed  the  muzzle  of  his  gun  behind  him, 
so  that  I  was  constantly  in  expectation  of  going 
home  in  the  game-bag.  We  were  out  after  quail 
one  day,  and  a  bird  got  up  just  as  we  were 
approaching  a  road  along  which  a  farmer  was  going 
to  the  bazaar  with  his  wife  riding  astride  of  an  old 
horse.  The  little  sportsman  was  too  excited  to 
hold  his  fire,  and  the  report  of  his  gun  was  followed 
by  a  loud  yell  and  the  thud  of  a  heavy  body  falling 
to  the  ground.  The  farmer  pointed  his  rifle 
threateningly  at  us,  and  we  rushed  forward  full  of 
apprehension,  for  it  is  a  serious  matter  to  put  shot 
into  an  Albanian;  but  happily  we  soon  saw  that 
no  harm  was  done.  The  old  horse,  being  peppered 
behind  with  small  shot,  had  flung  up  its  heels  and 


68  ALBANIA 

sent  its  rider  on  her  back  into  the  mud.  The 
mountaineer  burst  into  roars  of  inifeehng  laughter 
at  seeing  liis  wife  plastered  with  mud,  and  she 
rained  down  maledictions  on  the  horse,  her  husband 
and  ourselves ;  but  a  few  piastres  soon  set  every- 
thing right,  and  we  continued  our  sport  thankful 
that  we  had  not  to  run  for  our  lives  before  an 
infuriated  tribe  of  mountaineers. 

Our  friend's  chief  was  not  often  seen  upon  the 
Boulevard  Diplomatique.     He  was  an  ill-tempered 
little  man  with  a  hook  nose  and  a  heavy  moustache, 
and  often  profited  by  the  whole  of  the  European 
colony  being  on  the  Boulevard  to  pay  some  of  his 
infrequent  visits.     On  returning  home  one  day  I 
found  his  visiting  card  sticking  out  of  a  crack  in 
my  great  outer  gate.     He  knew  I  was  out,  but 
would  not  penetrate  into  the  court-yard  for  fear  I 
should  return  and  catch  him  before  he  could  make 
his  escape.     Moreover,  in  the  height  of  summer  he 
always  retired  into  private  life  for  his  yearly  baths. 
For  more  than  a  month  there  had  not  been  a  cloud 
in  the  sky,  the  earth  was  parched  and  cracking, 
and  life  was  only  rendered  tolerable  to  an  Enghsh- 
man  by  the  plentiful  use  of  the  cold  tub ;  but  for 
all  that  he  did  not  consider  that  the  bath  should  be 
entered  lightly  or  without  proper  precautions.     We 
used   to   lose   his   society   for   ten   days  while  he 
underwent  six  baths.     On  his  retirement  from  the 


THE  BOULEVARD    DIPLOxMATlQUE     09 

world  he  took  medicine  and  devoted  the  first  two 
days  to  preparing  himself  for  the  ceremony.  Then 
for  six  consecutive  days  he  took  a  bath,  the  water 
being  warmed  tliat  he  nn'glit  catch  no  chill,  and 
then  he  remained  indoors  for  two  more  days  that 
his  system  might  have  time  to  recover  from  the 
shock  before  he  exposed  himself  to  the  chance  of 
catching  cold  under  a  July  sun.  The  ten  days 
past  he  used  to  reappear  washed  and  rejuvenated, 
and  so  marvellous  was  his  economy  that  on  those 
half-dozen  baths  he  managed  to  look  perfectly 
clean  all  the  year  round. 

At  the  eastern  extremity  of  the  Boulevard 
Diplomatique,  though  he  was  but  seldom  seen  on 
that  historic  walk,  lived  the  consul  who  watched 
over  the  interests  of  one  of  the  great  continental 
empires.  He  was  an  amiable,  shy  man,  whose 
pasty  complexion  gave  him  the  appearance  of 
having  been  parboiled.  His  official  residence  was 
a  huge  barrack  not  long  erected,  about  which  the 
consul  used  to  wander  like  a  forlorn  ghost.  His 
chief  friend  and  confidant  was  his  dragoman, 
a  worthy  native  of  the  town,  wliose  eldest  daughter 
had  been  educated  in  Europe.  The  lonely  consul 
saw  this  girl  who  had  returned  to  her  cottage  home 
dressed  in  European  costume  and  speaking  French 
with  considerable  fluency  ;  but  for  a  long  time  he 
kept   his    thoughts    to    himself.     The   poor   child 


70  ALBANIA 

naturally  felt  rather  like  a  fish  out  of  water  when 
she   returned   home,   for    she    had    become    quite 
accustomed  to  European  ways,  while  her  mother 
and  two  sisters  still  clung  to  their  loose  Turkish 
trousers  and  oriental  habits.     The  Fairy  Prince  was 
at  hand.     The  little  consul  saw  and  loved  ;  but  the 
functionaries    of    the    empire   were    not    allowed 
to  contract  marriages  at  random,  and  without  the 
leave  of  their  imperial  master.     So  the  lover  wisely 
kept  his  own  counsel,  and  sent  in  a  formal  applica- 
tion to  his  chiefs  for  permission  to  marry  a  girl  with 
whom  he  had  hardly  exchanged  two  words  in  his 
life.      In  due  time  an  imposing  parchment  arrived 
granting  the  required  indulgence  and  sealed  with 
an  imperial  seal  of  imposing  dimensions.     The  next 
day  the  consul  placed  the  precious  document  and 
its  envelope  safely  in  an  inner  pocket  and  set  off  to 
pay  a  visit  to  his  dragoman.     The  object  of  his 
affections   was  naturally  not  in  the   room,  so   he 
timidly  inquired  after  her.    In  the  East  the  head  of 
a  house  assumes  an  extremely  apologetic  attitude 
towards  a  guest  when  speaking  of  his  womenkind, 
and  considers  a  wife  something  to  be  ashamed  of, 
but  as  his  daughter  had  been  educated  alia  franca, 
the  dragoman  bowed  so  far  to  European  customs 
as  to  summon    her.     The  consul   did   not   waste 
words — perhaps   he   could    not    trust    himself   to 
speak— but  he  pulled  the  enclosure  from  his  pocket 


THE  BOULEVARD    DIPLOMATIQUE     71 

and  thrust  it  into  the  girl's  hands,  saying  simply, 
*'  Read  it."  Speechless  with  astonishment  she 
opened  the  document  and,  stumbling  through  the 
preamble,  saw  to  her  utter  amazement  that  the 
emperor  granted  to  his  trusty  servant  the  consul 
permission  to  marry  the  lady  mentioned  in  his 
application.  It  was  perhaps  the  most  original  pro- 
posal ever  imagined. 

The  consul  broke  the  silence.  "  I  have  my 
august  master's  permission  ;  what  is  your  answer  ?  " 
Stammering  something  about  consulting  her 
parents,  the  girl  rushed  from  the  room,  and  her 
suitor,  picking  up  his  precious  paper,  took  his 
leave.  The  rest  may  be  easily  imagined ;  consuls 
do  not  grow  on  wayside  hedges.  The  family's 
acceptance  was  quickly  notified  to  the  lover,  and 
he,  prompt  and  decided  in  action,  instantly  secured 
the  services  of  the  priest.  Every  obstacle  was  over- 
come ;  the  greatest  secrecy  was  observed ;  and  on 
the  Sunday  following  this  unique  proposal  a  little 
procession  left  the  dragoman's  house  soon  after 
sunset.  First  marched  the  kavass,  gorgeous  in  his 
scarlet  uniform,  carrying  a  lantern  in  his  hand,  and 
too  philosophical  to  betray  any  astonishment  at  the 
curious  customs  of  the  Franks.  Then  came  the 
consul  in  his  best  black  broad-cloth  frock-coat  and 
billy-cock  hat,  with  his  bride  leaning  on  his  arm. 
Immediately    behind    the    happy   pair   came   the 


72  ALBANIA 

bride's  two  sisters  in  Albanian  dresses,  shuffling 
along  in  their  loose  slippers  and  with  their  full 
silken  trousers  rustling  with  aggressive  newness, 
giggling  behind  their  veils  at  the  double  impro- 
priety of  being  out  after  dark  and  of  seeing  their 
sister  leaning  on  a  man's  arm,  just  like  a  Frank. 
The  father  and  mother  of  the  bride,  also  in  full 
Albanian  dress,  brought  up  the  rear.  The  priest 
was  waiting  for  the  party,  and  the  consul  was 
married  to  his  dragoman's  daughter  before  more 
than  half  a  dozen  people  in  the  city  knew  that 
there  was  even  an  engagement  between  them. 

The  next  day  the  fact  came  out,  and  the 
gossip  and  amazement  it  excited  were  things  to 
be  remembered.  All  the  principal  Christian 
merchants  deeply  regretted  that  their  daughters 
had  not  been  educated  alia  franca^  and  resolved  to 
rectify  the  mistake  with  the  least  possible  delay. 
These  good  resolutions  soon  passed  away  when  the 
nine  days'  wonder  was  over,  but  the  consul 
remained  with  an  amiable  wife  and  with  the  satis- 
faction of  having  achieved  the  most  unusual  pro- 
posal and  wedding  that  ever  entered  the  mind  of 
man  to  conceive. 

The  other  consuls  were  not  men  of  such 
startling  originality.  One  of  them  had  a  skittle 
alley  in  his  garden,  and  once  a  week  throughout 
the  summer  consuls-general  and  pashas,  consuls  and 


THE  BOULEVARD    DIPLOMATIQUE     73 

beys,  vice-consuls  and  Roman  Catholic  priests, 
vied  with  one  another  in  bowling  a  heavy  ball  at 
the  nine  skittles  at  the  other  end  of  the  alley.  It 
was  a  capital  amusement,  as  it  combined  gentle 
excitement  and  a  certain  amount  of  bodily  exercise 
without  the  trouble  of  moving  out  of  the  shade  of 
the  spreading  mulberry  tree.  At  the  other  end  an 
Albanian  gardener  fagged  for  us  and  trundled  back 
the  ball  with  prodigious  energy  and  never-ceasing 
grins. 

There  were  other  consuls  to  be  met  with  on 
the  Boulevard,  stray  engineers  from  Europe  look- 
ing for  concessions,  and  perhaps  a  pasha  or  two 
now  and  again ;  but  aksJiam,  or  sunset,  was  the 
signal  for  a  general  dispersal.  As  the  sun  sank 
behind  the  mountains  of  Montenegro  the  Muezzin 
mounted  the  little  wooden  minaret  of  the  mosque 
opposite  the  public  garden,  and  proclaimed  the 
hour  of  prayer  in  a  high-pitched,  nasal  voice.  It 
soon  got  dark  when  once  the  sun  had  set,  and  so 
with  due  deliberation  the  lamplighter  began  to 
light  the  petroleum  lamps  which  the  Vali  Pasha 
had  placed  round  the  public  garden  and  along  the 
Boulevard  Diplomatique.  This  functionary  was  a 
tall  and  gaunt  old  Mussulman,  ^^^th  a  fierce 
moustache,  an  embroidered  scarlet  jacket  and  a 
huge  fustanellc.  He  carried  a  ladder,  a  box  of 
lucifer   matches  and  an    enormous   green   cotton 


74  ALBANIA 

umbrella.  He  planted  his  ladder  against  the 
wooden  post  on  the  top  of  which  a  common  tin 
lamp  was  insecurely  fastened  and,  taking  off  the 
glass  chimney,  opened  his  umbrella  to  keep  off  the 
wind.  The  handle  of  the  umbrella  was  tucked 
under  his  arm,  and  then  balancing  himself  on  the 
rickety  ladder  he  proceeded  to  strike  a  light  with 
his  lucifers,  carefully  protecting  the  spluttering 
flame  with  both  his  hands.  Naturally  this  was  a 
slow  process,  and  by  the  time  a  dozen  lamps  were 
lighted  everybody  was  safe  at  home,  for  the  citizens 
did  not  go  out  at  night,  but  retired  to  rest  at  a 
very  early  hour.  And  it  was  said  by  the  wits  that 
when  the  old  man  had  finished  fighting  the  lamps, 
he  solemnly  went  round  again  and  put  them  all 
out  in  order  to  save  the  Pasha's  oil. 


VI 


THE    VALI'i PASHA    AND    HIS    STAFF 

In  England  visits  of  ceremony  have  now  been  cut 
down  to  such  a  perfunctory  minimum  that  we  no 
longer  take  much  notice  of  them,  and  even  very 
frequently  neglect  to  pay  them.  But  abroad,  and 
especially  in  the  Near  East,  this  slipshod  way  of 
conducting  social  duties  is  not  looked  upon  with 
favour,  and  the  man  who  thinks  he  can  dispense 
with  calls  is  considered  a  very  ill-mannered  person. 
The  first  interchange  of  visits  and  the  state  calls  on 
feast  days  are  ceremonies  of  great  importance  and 
have  to  be  conducted  according  to  the  rules  and 
regulations.  The^  Protocol  is  master,  and  must  be 
obeyed. 

When  the  Vali  Pasha  wished,  or  thought  it  his 
duty,  to  pay  me  a  visit  he  considerately  sent  round 
an  orderly  to  say  that  if  it  was  entirely  convenient 
to  me  he  would  do  himself  the  honour  to  call  upon 
me  at  such  and  such  an  hour,  and  I  replied  that 
I  should  do  myself  the  honour  of  receiving  his 
excellency  at  the  hour  he  liad  been  good  enough 


76  ALBANIA 

to  fix.  Then  I  told  Achmet  what  was  in  store  for 
us,  and  left  the  preparations  to  him.  Punctually 
at  the  time  agreed  upon  a  martial  clanking  was 
heard  in  the  street  outside,  the  great  double  gates 
were  thrown  wide  open,  and  the  Vali  Pasha  of  the 
Vilayet  stalked  into  the  little  courtyard  surrounded 
by  his  staff.  Achmet,  with  an  air  at  once  con- 
sequential and  deprecatory,  bowed  in  the  Vali 
Pasha  and  his  followers,  and  then,  bustling  about 
the  room  with  his  peculiar  cat-like  tread,  placed 
cigarettes  and  a  clean  ash  tray  by  each  seat.  As 
the  Pasha  entered,  1  stepped  forward  to  greet  my 
guest  upon  the  threshold  and  led  him  to  the  seat 
of  honour,  at  the  same  time  begging  his  suite  to 
seat  themselves,  while  the  faithful  Achmet  hurried 
out  to  help  Simon  grind  and  brew  the  fresh 
coffee. 

The  governor-general,  Hussein  Husni  Pasha, 
was  a  tall,  thin,  grey-haired  old  gentleman  who 
had  seen  service  in  many  wars.  I  say  "  gentleman  " 
advisedly,  for  everything  about  him,  from  his  small 
and  well-kept  hands  to  his  shapely  and  well-shod 
feet,  showed  him  to  be  a  polished,  courteous  Turk 
of  the  old  school.  No  one  could  be  more  courtly 
in  his  manner,  or  more  happy  and  unconventional 
in  the  compliments  he  paid.  He  spoke  no 
language  but  his  own,  not  even  French,  and  he 
was  all  the  better  for  that  ignorance. 


THE   VxVLI   AND   HIS    STAFF         77 

Riza  Pasha,  his  second  in  command,  was  a  very- 
different  man.       He  was  tall  and  stout,   and   his 
handsome  face  had  the  appearance  of  belonging  to 
one  who  was  always  struggling  against  sleep  and 
who  only  kept  awake  out  of  politeness  to  his  com- 
panions.    He  spoke  English  fluently  in  a  soft  fat 
voice,  and  was  a  man  of  some  wealth  and  influence. 
The  third  Pasha,  Hakki,  was  completely    unlike 
the  other  two.     He  was  very  short,  and  had  the 
reputation  of  being  a  brave  man,  nor  was  he  at  all 
loth  to  blow  his  own  trumpet  upon  all  and  every 
occasion.     A  distinguishing  point  about  him  was 
that,    although  he  was  not  remarkable    for  good 
looks,   he   was  probably  the  vainest   man  in    the 
whole  city.       He  also  spoke   English  with  great 
facility,  having  spent  three  years  in  London  learn- 
ing   mining    engineering.       After    mastering  this 
subject  he  returned  to  Constantinople,  where  he 
was  promptly  commissioned  by  the  government  to 
translate  an  English  medical  work  on  midwifery 
into    Turkish.      Beyond    this    his    English     and 
mining  knowledge  had  done  him  no  good,  except 
that  the  former  had  enabled  him  to   prove  him- 
self a  jovial  companion  to  every   Englishman  he 
met. 

The  other  two  were  interpreters ;  one  of  Cor- 
fiote  extraction,  and  the  other  a  Dalmatian  doctor. 
Both  spoke   French,   ItaUan,  Turkish  and   Greek 


78  ALBANIA 

with  equal  facility  and,  what  was  more,  could  think 
in  any  one  of  those  languages.  The  Corfiote  had 
no  special  characteristics  except  a  very  heavy 
moustache  and  a  way  of  looking  stealthily  out  of 
the  corners  of  his  eyes.  The  Dalmatian  was  a  fine, 
tall,  handsome  man  who  had  attached  himself  to 
Hussein  Pasha  as  a  sort  of  unofficial  interpreter, 
and  was  fond  of  making  a  butt  of  Hakki  Pasha 
upon  every  safe  opportunity. 

Almost  before  the  introductory  compliments 
were  over  the  trusty  Achmet  entered  and,  with  his 
hand  upon  his  heart,  presented  a  tray  bearing  the 
cups  of  fragrant  coffee.  We  all  six  laid  aside  our 
cigarettes  for  a  moment  and  sipped  the  steaming 
liquor  out  of  the  tiny  cups,  and  under  the  influence 
of  the  coffee  the  first  stiffness  of  our  intercourse 
wore  off,  so  much  so  that  the  doctor  begged  the 
Vali  to  tell  Hakki  Pasha  to  show  me  how  they 
preached  sermons  in  England.  Hakki  looked 
somewhat  disconcerted  at  this  ill-natured  sugges- 
tion, and  the  Vali  was  too  much  of  a  gentleman  to 
ask  him  ;  but  the  doctor,  who  had  no  such  scruples, 
told  me  in  French — translating  into  Turkish  for  the 
Vah's  benefit  as  he  went  along — that  Hakki  Pasha 
sometimes  at  the  Konak  got  upon  a  chair  and 
preached  a  sermon  he  once  heard  in  England.  It 
condemned  all  Turks,  Jews,  infidels  and  heretics  to 
everlasting  punishment,  and  the  point  of  the  story 


THE   VALI   AND   HIS    STAFF        79 

of  course  was  the  absurdity  of  placing  Turks  and 
infidels  in  the  same  category.  The  doctor  was 
a  Christian  of  some  nondescript  kind  himself, 
but  in  Mussulman  society  was  more  Turkish 
than  the  Turks.  The  Vali  hastened  to  turn 
the  conversation  and  said :  "  Tell  the  English 
bey,  Hakki  Pasha,  how  they  gave  you  sugar  in 
England  !  " 

Hakki's  little  eyes  lighted  up  with  the  spirit  of 
fun,  and  he  began  at  once,  screwing  up  his  caricature 
of  a  face  and  acting  every  part  of  his  recital ;  while 
the  Vali  Pasha,  who  had  heard  the  story  a  hundred 
times  before,  followed  dt  in  the  unknown  tongue 
and  nodded  approval  at  the  right  places  which  were 
vividly  indicated  by  the  narrator's  wonderful 
gestures. 

"  When  I  was  in  England  learning  engineer- 
ing," said  Hakki  Pasha,  "  I  was  in  a  boarding 
house  near  the  school,  and  the  landlady  was  very 
mean  with  the  sugar.  You  know  that  we  in  the 
East  like  a  good  deal  of  sweet,  and  so,  when  she 
sent  me  my  cup  of  tea  with  only  two  lumps  of 
sugar  in  it,  I  used  to  send  it  back  and  ask  for  more. 
Then  she  would  search  out  the  smallest  lump  of 
sugar  in  the  basin  and  hold  it  out  to  me  between 
her  finger  and  thumb  " — suiting  the  action  to  the 
word,  and  looking  with  head  on  one  side  and 
screwed-up  eyes  at  his  finger  and  thumb  which  he 


80  ALBANIA 

pinched  together  as  tightly  as  possible  to  indicate 
the  very  smallest  piece  of  sugar — "  she  used  to  hold 
it  like  that  and  say,  '  Is  that  too  much  for  you, 
Hakki  Bey  ? ' " 

Then,  as  he  reached  the  cream  of  the  joke,  we 
all  laughed,  not  loudly  or  uproariously,  but  in  a 
dignified  and  subdued  manner,  as  people  who  have 
heard  the  story  before  and  hope  to  hear  it  again, 
and  the  little  Pasha  said,  "  That  is  how  they  give 
you  sugar  in  England  ! " 

Since  exchanging  compliments  with  me  on 
entering,  Riza  Pasha  had  not  uttered  a  word,  and 
even  after  the  story  he  only  smiled  sadly  and  con- 
tinued an  admiring  inspection  of  his  varnished 
boots  between  the  slow  puffs  at  his  cigarette.  The 
Corfiote,  after  some  conversation  with  his  chief, 
informed  me  that  the  Vali  had  lately  procured 
some  wonderful  fishing  tackle  from  England  and 
was  anxious  to  try  it.  He  knew  that  all  English- 
men catch  fish,  and  so  begged  the  favour  of  my 
company  upon  his  fishing  expedition.  He  enlarged 
upon  the  excellence  of  his  new  tackle,  till  at  last 
Hakki  Pasha,  not  to  be  outdone,  said :  "I  often 
catch  fish,  but  my  way  is  quicker,  and  catches 
more  fish,  than  his  Excellency's,"  at  the  same  time 
pulling  two  or  three  little  cartridges  out  of  his 
capacious  coat  pocket. 

"  What  is  that,  effendim  ?  "  said  the  Corfiote. 


THE   VALI   AND    HIS    STAFF        81 

"  Dynamite,"  replied  Hakki  cheerfully,  slipping 
the  cartridges  back  into  his  pocket.  ''  I  catch 
plenty  offish  with  them." 

I  fancy  that  we  three  non-Moslems  felt  very 
uncomfortable.  I  should  not  have  been  so  amused 
at  that  sugar  story  if  I  had  known  that  the  little 
poacher  had  dynamite  cartridges  shaking  about  in 
his  great  pockets,  and  that  he  murdered  fish  in  so 
unsportsmanlike  a  manner.  INloreover,  he  had 
already  burned  two  holes  in  his  coat  sleeve  and 
made  a  horrible  odour  by  smoking  his  cigarette  so 
short  that  it  singed  his  moustache ;  and  there  was 
no  knowing  what  the  next  burning  stump  might 
set  fire  to.  However,  no  one  stirred.  If  it  was 
written  in  the  Book  of  Fate  that  we  were  to  be 
destroyed  that  day  or  the  next,  it  was  useless  our 
attempting  to  prevent  it.  1  could  see  that  the  two 
interpreters  did  not  like  the  dynamite  any  more 
than  I  did,  but  they  said  nothing,  knowing  that  any 
remark  would  probably  make  the  Pasha  do  some- 
thing foolish  out  of  bravado.  So  I  was  not  sorry 
when  the  Vali  rose  to  take  leave  ;  and  as  I  accom- 
panied him  to  the  door  he  pressed  me  to  come  on 
a  fishing  expedition  in  the  course  of  the  week. 
1  accepted  with  the  mental  reservation  to  keep 
as  far  from  Hakki  Pasha  and  his  malpractices  as 
possible.  The  Turkish  soldiers,  who  had  been 
chatting,     smoking     and    drinking    coffee     with 

G 


82  ALBANIA 

Achmet  down  below,  sprang  to  attention,  and 
so,  with  many  parting  expressions  of  friendship, 
the  Pasha  and  his  suite  clanked  out  of  my  little 
courtyard. 


VII 

THE   ROMAN   CATHOLICS   OF   SCODRA 

The  majority  of  the  inhabitants  of  Scodra  are 
^loslem  Albanians,  the  Christians  being  less  than 
half  of  the  population.  The  Christians  are  nearly- 
all  Roman  Catholics,  and  the  few  Orthodox 
families  are  of  Slav  origin,  having  come  from 
Montenegro  or  the  Herzegovina  and  settled  in  the 
city.  The  Christians  are  now  much  more 
important  than  they  were,  for  they  are  the 
principal  merchants  of  Scodra  and  have  acquired 
wealth  by  trading  with  Austria  and  Italy.  They 
are  gradually  adopting  European  ways  and,  when 
they  are  met  with  in  Trieste  or  Venice,  seldom 
wear  their  native  dress,  and  are  not  to  be  dis- 
tinguished in  any  way  from  the  other  Near  Eastern 
nationalities  which  crowd  the  markets  of  those 
cities. 

The  late  war  and  the  constitution  of  the  new 
Albanian  State  will,  of  course,  change  everything, 
and  in  the  next  few  years  Europe  will  come  a 
century   nearer   to   Albania*      The    Oriental   and 


84  ALBANIA 

mediaeval  attitude  of  the  townsmen  will  gradually 
disappear,  and  everything  and  everybody  will 
become  Europeanised.  Under  Turkish  rule  it  was 
very  difficult  for  a  Frank  to  know  or  mix  with  the 
leading  members  of  the  community  on  anything 
like  terms  of  intimacy,  and  the  best  time  to  see 
something  of  the  native  life  of  the  Christians  of 
the  city  was  at  the  two  great  feasts  of  Easter  and 
the  New  Year.  Then  every  one  exchanged  visits 
of  ceremony,  and  all  the  leading  merchants  paid 
solemn  visits  to  the  consuls  and  foreigners  with 
whom  they  were  on  friendly  terms,  and  also  among 
themselves.  The  men  alone  came,  for  the  shadow 
of  the  harem  was  upon  even  the  Christian  women, 
and  the  very  idea  of  going  to  pay  a  visit  with  their 
husbands  seemed  grossly  improper  to  them.  Of 
course  the  women  paid  visits  among  themselves, 
and  sometimes  went  to  a  European's  house  to  pay 
a  visit  to  his  wife  or  daughters,  but  they  went 
more  or  less  surreptitiously  and  made  a  great  point 
of  not  meeting  any  men  and  of  not  being  received 
in  the  public  rooms. 

On  rising  every  one  put  on  his  best  clothes ; 
not  his  uniform,  for  the  business  was  not  so  official 
as  all  that,  but  the  half-way  of  a  black  coat. 
Breakfast  was  often  interrupted  by  the  announce- 
ment of  visitors.  The  native  merchants  usually 
arrived  early,  partly  in  order  to  avoid  the  European 


THE   ROMAN   CATHOLICS  85 

world,  and  partly  because  they  had  so  many  of 
their  relatives  and  friends  to  call  on  and  drink 
coffee  with.  So,  soon  after  nine  o'clock,  they  used 
to  climb  the  staircase  leading  to  the  selamlik,  and 
one  had  to  be  thorouglily  awake,  for  unless  the 
host  had  plenty  to  say  the  conversation  languished, 
as  Oriental  manners  prevailed  among  the  mercantile 
community.  By  lunch  time  most  of  the  native 
contingent,  who  felt  it  incumbent  on  them  to  call, 
had  passed  through  the  little  sitting-room,  each 
man  having  coffee,  cigarettes  and  sweetmeats 
offered  to  him,  and  I  as  host  having  to  smoke  and 
drink  with  each  one.  Hitherto  the  callers  had 
come  in  batches,  the  majority  in  native  Scutarine 
dress,  but  a  few  of  the  more  emancipated  in 
European  reach-me-downs.  But  just  before 
luncheon  there  came  a  youth  who  was  a  curious 
symptom  of  the  fluctuating  opinions  held  by  the 
Roman  Catholic  townsmen. 

The  approach  of  noon  had  brought  about  a 
cessation  of  callers,  and  with  door  and  windows 
open  I  was  ridding  the  room  of  the  heavy  clouds 
of  tobacco  smoke  which  hung  about  it,  when 
another  caller  was  announced.  I  heard  him  stumb- 
ling up  the  outer  staircase,  and  then  Achmet 
opened  the  door  and  showed  in  the  son  of  one  of 
the  principal  Christian  merchants  who  had  visited 
me  that  morning.      ^Vt  first  I  hardly  recognised 


86  ALBANIA 

the  youth,  he  seemed  so  utterly  changed,  and,  what 
was  rather  unusual  on  his  part,  looked  ashamed  of 
himself.  A  couple  of  months  previously  he  had 
returned  from  Venice,  where  he  had  put  a  final 
polish  on  his  education,  determined  to  comport 
himself  in  everything  like  a  European.  He  then 
wore  a  short  cutaway  coat,  trousers  very  tight 
in  the  leg  and  very  loose  round  the  ankle,  a  shirt 
collar  cut  half-way  down  his  chest,  and  a  billy-cock 
hat  with  a  very  narrow  brim  on  the  top  of  his  bushy 
curls.  He  was  more  European  than  the  Europeans 
in  those  early  days,  and  spoke  of  his  compatriots  as 
questa  gente,  and  affected  the  airs  and  graces  of 
the  modern  Italian  youth.  But  the  ridicule  of  his 
friends  and  relations  had  changed  all  that,  and  he 
presented  himself  before  me  in  a  short  scarlet 
jacket  embroidered  with  black  silk  and  so  tight  in 
the  arms  and  back  that  he  could  hardly  stoop.  An 
enormous  pair  of  dark  calico  knickerbockers  covered 
his  form  from  the  waist  to  the  knee,  while  his  legs 
and  feet  were  clothed  in  white  cotton  stockings 
and  elastic-sided  boots.  On  his  head  was  balanced 
the  flat  red  fez  with  its  heavy  blue  silk  tassel ;  in  fact, 
he  had  taken  advantage  of  the  Easter  festivities  to 
discard  the  Frankish  dress  he  once  held  so  dear. 
He  noticed  my  ill-concealed  look  of  astonishment, 
and  excused  himself  somewhat  awkwardly  for 
resuming  the  national  dress,  by  no  means  making 


THE   ROMAN   CATHOLICS  87 

the  matter  better  by  saying  that  he  did  not  come 
with  his  father  that  morning  because  we,  who  had 
hved  in  Europe,  did  not  care  for  such  early  visits, 
and  he  thought  that  we  could  converse  more  freely 
without  the  presence  of  quest  a  gent  c.  He  made 
these  remarks,  proving  his  superiority  to  the  rest 
of  his  race  in  good  Italian,  and,  as  a  still  further 
proof,  after  a  few  false  starts  continued  his  remarks 
in  French. 

I  had  noticed  when  he  entered  that  he  seemed 
to  be  walking  as  if  he  had  peas  in  his  boots,  and  he 
presently  volunteered  an  explanation  of  this  unfesti- 
val-like  state  of  things  by  observing,  "  Je  ne  puis  pas 
chaminer  beaucoup,  mes  bottes  sont  trop  strettes." 
He  smiled  feebly  as  he  confessed  to  his  vanity,  and 
wiped  his  hands  nervously  with  a  red  cotton  hand- 
kerchief after  the  manner  of  his  kind.  The  con- 
versation languished  while  he  was  composing  a 
fresh  atrocity  in  French,  and  I  was  almost  in 
despair  of  getting  rid  of  him  when  happily  some 
laggard  callers  arrived.  They  were  personal  friends 
of  his,  and  could  not  conceal  their  grins  at  seeing 
him  again  in  the  native  dress  which  he  had  professed 
to  despise  so  vehemently  only  a  week  or  two  ago. 
As  they  were  in  a  Frank's  house  they  said  nothing, 
but  my  pseudo-Frankish  acquaintance  started  to 
his  feet  forgetful  of  the  tightness  of  his  boots,  and 
crushing  his  half-smoked  cigarette — the  fourth  or 


88  ALBANIA 

fifth — into  the  brazen  ashpan,  declared  that  he 
must  be  off  as  he  had  so  many  calls  to  pay.  And 
when  the  last  callers  departed  never  was  luncheon 
better  earned,  and  never  was  luncheon  more  dis- 
tasteful than  after  more  than  three  hours  of 
eternal  coffee  and  cigarettes. 

The  afternoon  usually  resolved  itself  into  a 
round  of  return  visits  to  the  native  merchants 
and  minor  officials.  The  mercantile  community 
divided  itself  into  two  classes  :  the  conservatives, 
who  were  satisfied  with  what  their  fathers  had 
provided,  a  wide  low  house  in  a  garden  behind  high 
walls  ;  and  the  go-aheads,  who  had  built  themselves 
staring  white  villas  in  an  imitation  Italian  style, 
with  a  drawing-room  on  the  ground  floor  and 
papered  walls  with  none  of  the  old  carved  wood- 
work of  the  native  houses.  But  the  rooms,  if  like 
a  barrack,  were  alia  franca^  and  that  was  enough  to 
prove  the  owner  to  be  a  man  above  his  fellows. 
The  married  consuls  often  took  their  wives  with 
them  on  these  occasions,  because  it  was  the 
greatest  compliment  that  could  be  paid  to  a  native 
household  to  treat  it  alia  franca  and  not  alia  turca, 
as  the  visit  of  the  consul  alone  would  imply.  For 
the  merchant's  wife  it  was  a  great  day.  Perhaps 
both  she  and  her  husband  would  be  in  European 
dress,  as  they  were  safe  behind  their  own  walls, 
both  looking   and  feeling  very  awkward,  and  she 


THE    ROMAN   CATHOLICS  89 

especially  in  constant  dread  that  something  had 
been  put  on  wrong  and  might  come  to  grief.  In 
the  old-fashioned  houses  both  the  husband  and  the 
wife  wore  their  full  trousers  and  short  jackets,  and 
the  wife  always  held  a  handkerchief  folded  flat 
with  which  she  incessantly  rubbed  her  hands  in  the 
hope,  no  doubt,  of  hiding  her  nervousness.  For 
the  rest,  she  was  unveiled  and  dressed  in  her  best, 
with  new,  crackly  Turkish  trousers,  beautiful  gauze 
vest,  a  jacket  embroidered  with  black  silk,  and 
Frankish  boots  worked  with  white  thread,  an 
ornamentation  which  rather  spoiled  the  rest  of  her 
appearance.  The  husband's  dress  was  very  similar, 
except  that  his  baggy  knickerbockers  only  reached 
to  the  knee,  while  the  wife's  Turkish  trousers  hung 
round  her  ankles. 

In  every  household  the  ceremony  was  the  same. 
If  there  were  any  natives  calling  when  the  consular 
party  arrived  they  almost  invariably  took  their 
leave  at  once.  The  new-comers  were  then  con- 
ducted to  the  seat  of  honour,  and  immediately  a 
servant,  or,  if  great  respect  were  intended,  a 
daughter  of  the  house,  brought  in  the  cigarettes, 
which  were  followed  by  coffee  in  little  cups  balanced 
on  silver  filagree  zarfi.  These  zarf's  were  like  egg 
cups  in  shape,  and  were  very  necessary,  since 
Turkish  coffee  cups  have  no  handles  and  the  coffee 
should  be  boiling.      After  the  coffee  came  pink, 


90  ALBANIA 

green  and  yellow  syrups  in  tumblers,  the  mixture 
sickeningly  sweet,  and  then  more  coffee  and  more 
cigarettes  and  huge  lumps  of  sweetmeat,  white  and 
cloying  to  the  palate.  These  Albanian  sweetmeats 
were  intensely  sticky,  and  needed  careful  handling, 
or  the  stranger  might  find  himself  in  an  awkward 
predicament.  An  Austrian  sea  captain,  who  was 
paying  a  visit  to  an  Albanian  household,  once  put 
a  whole  one  in  his  mouth,  and,  finding  that  it 
obstructed  his  speech,  tried  to  bite  it  in  two.  The 
result  was  that  his  jaws  stuck  together,  and  he  was 
rendered  speechless  and  helpless  for  at  least  five 
minutes  before  he  could  get  free.  Happily  the 
visits  were  not  very  long,  for  the  conversation  was 
naturally  limited,  and  consisted  chiefly  in  inquiries 
after  the  health  of  the  families.  Etiquette  only 
demanded  that  the  coffee  and  syrup  should  be 
tasted,  and  the  cigarette,  after  a  couple  of  whiffs, 
was  usually  allowed  to  smoulder  itself  out  at  the 
edge  of  the  brass  ashpan. 

But  the  visits  had  to  be  paid,  and  the  coffee, 
syrup,  sweets  and  cigarettes  had  to  be  taken,  so 
when  there  were  ten  or  a  dozen  calls  to  be  paid  in 
the  course  of  the  day  the  state  of  the  Frankish 
digestion  at  the  end  of  it  may  easily  be  guessed. 
But  with  tact  and  knowledge  the  visits  could 
generally  be  got  through  in  an  afternoon,  and  that 
nearly  exhausted  the  community,  for  it  was  not 


THE   ROMAN   CATHOLICS  91 

necessary  for  a  consul  to  call  on  the  smaller  fry. 
In  fact  it  is  quite  possible  that  the  native  merchants 
divided  themselves  into  two  classes,  those  who 
were  called  upon  by  the  consuls  and  those  who 
were  not.  But  tliat  is  a  secret  which  has  never 
been  divulged  to  Europeans. 


VIII 

THE    COMMODORE   AND    HIS    FLEET 

Although  Lake  Scodra  is  a  huge  volume  of  water 
lying  among  the  mountains  of  Montenegro  and 
the  mountains  and  plains  of  North  Albania, 
it  has  never  been  the  scene  of  any  naval  battle. 
Still  the  Porte,  at  any  rate  for  nearly  forty  years, 
always  kept  a  fleet  of  sorts  on  the  lake,  under 
the  command  of  a  commodore  who,  unless  he  had 
some  interests  beyond  his  squadron,  must  have  been 
bored  to  death.  Happily  for  himself  the  worthy 
officer  who  was  in  command  when  I  first  went  to 
Scodra  was  an  enthusiastic  gardener  as  well  as 
a  sailor.  He  lived  on  shore  in  a  tiny  cottage  just 
by  the  koiiak,  and  made  his  little  garden,  which 
was  about  the  size  of  a  pocket-handkerchief,  as 
trim  and  tidy  as  the  deck  of  a  ship,  indeed  far 
trimmer  and  tidier  than  the  decks  of  his  men-of-war. 
Scodra  is  twenty  miles  from  the  sea,  and  the 
river  Boiana  is  too  shallow  to  be  navigable  except 
in  the  very  rainy  season,  but  for  all  that,  somehow 
or  other  the  Turks  managed  to  coax  an  imposing 


THE   COMMODORE  93 

fleet  of  threepenny  steamboats  over  the  rapids  and 
shallows  of  the  river  wlien  it  was  swollen  with  the 
autumn  rains.  It  may  be  that  the  vessels  did 
some  service,  but  the  commodore  was  not  a  talka- 
tive man,  and  preferred  his  flowers  to  his  ships. 
When  the  pelting  rains  left  off  and  the  sun  made 
the  young  plants  grow  with  marvellous  rapidity, 
I  made  a  point  of  going  to  see  the  commodore,  as 
he  was  then  in  his  very  happiest  mood.  I  went 
with  a  travelling  Englishman,  and  as  Achmet  was 
engaged  about  the  house  we  took  my  friend's 
servant  to  precede  us  through  the  streets  to  the 
casa  di  vapo7yi  (the  steamboat  man's  house). 

This  man  deserves  a  line  or  two  to  himself,  as 
he  was  a  type  of  the  lower  class  Christian  of  the 
town.  As  he  stalked  proudly  in  front  of  us  with 
a  couple  of  brass-handled  pistols  stuck  in  his  belt, 
he  was  a  very  stately  and  warlike  looking  person, 
but  a  few  weeks  ago  he  had  been  an  altogether 
different  object.  In  his  childhood  he  played  about 
the  narrow  streets  of  the  Christian  quarter,  dressed 
in  a  thin  cotton  shirt  in  summer  and  wrapped  in  a 
bit  of  blanket  in  winter,  and  most  probably  learned 
to  smoke  when  he  was  about  seven  years  old.  As 
he  grew  up  he  spent  his  days  hanging  about  the 
courtyard  of  some  merchant  or  rich  man,  turning 
his  hand  to  all  sorts  of  odd  jobs  when  he  could  not 
get  his  piece  of  maize  bread  without  exertion,  and 


94  ALBANIA 

at  night  sleeping  under  the  lee  of  a  wall  or  in  an 
outhouse.  In  spite  of  having  no  visible  means  of 
subsistence  he  always  had  some  tobacco  to  twist 
into  a  cigarette,  and  possessed  a  rusty  old  flint-lock 
pistol  for  use  on  grand  occasions.  In  one  of  the 
many  times  of  disturbance,  when  there  was  conse- 
quently some  relaxation  of  authority,  he  and  some 
kindred  spirits  took  to  foraging  expeditions  on  their 
own  account  and,  coming  into  collision  with  the 
zaptiehs,  got  thrown  into  prison.  When  a  man 
gets  into  prison  in  Turkey  he  generally  stays  there, 
unless  he  has  a  great  deal  of  money  or  luck,  and 
Giorgio  proved  no  exception  to  the  rule.  In  his 
case  luck  opened  the  doors  of  his  prison  after  he 
had  had  a  pretty  lengthy  experience  of  durance 
vile. 

His  old  mother,  who  led  the  same  sort  of  hand- 
to-mouth  existence  as  himself,  was  fortunate  enough 
to  get  the  rough  washing  and  cleaning  up  to  do  at 
one  of  the  European  consulates,  and  after  some 
months  summoned  up  courage  to  petition  the 
consul's  wife  to  beg  the  consul  to  ask  the  Pasha  to 
let  her  son  out  of  prison.  The  consul,  being  good- 
natured,  promised  to  look  into  the  matter,  and 
learning  that  Giorgio  had  committed  no  crime  but 
had  been  incarcerated  chiefly  on  suspicion,  one  day 
put  the  case  before  the  Vali,  with  the  result  that 
the  Pasha,  who  was  of  course  utterly  ignorant  of 


THE   COMMODORE  95 

the  whole  afHiir,  immediately  set  master  Giorgio 
free.  When  he  came  out  he  was  a  lank,  lean,  and 
hungry-looking  object,  clothed  simply  in  a  shirt  and 
trousers  of  the  thinnest  cotton,  and  with  a  felt  skull- 
cap on  his  head.  For  some  weeks  he  almost  re- 
gretted his  liberty,  and  was  inclined  to  repent  of  his 
mother's  influence  with  those  in  power  ;  but  at  last 
luck  befriended  him  again,  and  he  was  engaged  as 
servant  by  an  English  traveller.  He  at  once  dis- 
carded the  old  shirt  and  trousers,  and  assumed  the 
mountaineer  dress  of  white  felt  embroidered  with 
black  silk.  He  no  longer  slunk  about  like  a  famished 
wolf,  but  proud  of  being  in  the  service  of  a  Frank, 
and  certain  that  a  good  supper  awaited  him  after 
ak'sham,  preceded  us  with  head  erect  and  all  the 
stately  swagger  of  his  race. 

The  casa  di  vaporfi  stood  between  the  back 
entrance  to  the  konak  and  the  beginning  of  the 
Boulevard  Diplomatique.  A  stream  separated  the 
road  from  the  garden  wall,  and  crossing  the  single 
rough  plank  that  served  as  a  bridge,  Giorgio 
knocked  loudly  at  the  great  gates.  Presently  a 
voice  within  inquired  who  we  were,  and  on 
Giorgio  replying  proudly  "  IngUz  milordo "  the 
gates  were  thrown  open  and  we  entered.  The 
commodore,  or  vaporji,  as  he  was  usually  called, 
rose  at  our  entry  from  the  garden  couch  upon  which 
he  had  been  watching  the  watering  of  his  beloved 


96  ALBANIA 

flowers,  and  we  sat  down,  one  on  each  side  of  our 
host.  A  sailor  instantly  provided  us  with  cigarettes 
and  brass  ashpans,  and  then,  with  his  hand  on 
his  heart,  proffered  us  a  red-hot  coal  in  a 
little  pair  of  tongs  instead  of  matches.  We  inter- 
changed compliments,  and  then  sat  silently  inhaling 
the  fragrant  tobacco,  and  looking  at  the  four 
sailors  who  were  watering  the  flowers  under  our 
host's  directions.  The  garden  was  a  tiny  square 
patch  of  ground  wedged  in  between  the  high  white 
walls  of  the  neighbouring  houses,  with  the  commo- 
dore's little  cottage  opening  into  it.  The  entire 
available  space  was  cut  up  into  beds  by  straight 
paths  about  eighteen  inches  wide,  which  were 
scrupulously  weeded  and  laid  down  with  powdered 
shells.  Every  bed  had  its  flowers  planted  in  mathe- 
matically straight  lines,  and  it  was  easy  to  see  that 
tulips  were  the  commodore's  favourites.  But  no 
plant  was  allowed  to  take  up  more  room  than 
another,  and  the  whole  place,  trim  and  neat,  with 
every  square  inch  put  to  its  fullest  use,  showed 
incontestably  that  the  sailor's  tidiness  did  not 
forsake  him  when  on  shore. 

The  cottage  was  full  of  sailors,  for  the  commo- 
dore naturally  did  not  go  to  the  expense  of  keeping 
a  servant  when  he  had  all  the  men  of  the  fleet  on 
Lake  Scodra  under  his  command.  Another  blue- 
jacket brought  us  coifee,  and  then  we  followed  our 


THE   COMMODORE  07 

host  in  Indian  file  along  the  narrow  white  paths  to 
inspect  the  beauties  of  nature  and  art  more  closely. 
The  commodore  was  a  stout  man  in  a  baggy  uni- 
form that  fitted  him  like  a  sack,  and  as  he  wound 
along  the  tiny  paths  he  reminded  one  irresistibly  of 
a  tight-rope  dancer.  However,  he  steered  his  way 
with  marvellous  skill,  never  kicking  a  single  shell 
on  to  the  flower  beds,  and  explaining  to  us  as  he 
went  that  the  garden  would  look  much  better 
in  another  week,  showing  us  where  some  of  his 
choicest  specimens  had  been  planted  but  had  not 
yet  shown  above  ground,  and  pointing  out  the 
buds  that  lay  concealed  among  the  green  shoots 
of  others  which  had  come  up — and  all  with  the 
simplicity  of  a  child  and  with  the  grave  interest 
that  only  a  real  lover  of  flowers,  who  is  also 
a  Turk  or  Dutchman,  could  exhibit. 

After  the  inspection  of  the  garden  we  resumed 
our  seats  and  more  coffee  was  brought  to  us.  The 
conversation  turned  upon  naval  matters,  which  the 
commodore  was  quite  willing  to  discuss,  though 
hardly  with  the  quiet  enthusiasm  with  which  he 
discoursed  on  his  flowers.  He  told  us  that  before 
coming  to  North  Albania  he  had  been  in  com- 
mand of  a  gunboat  in  the  Black  Sea.  We  could 
not  discover  that  he  had  ever  done  anything  in 
particular  or  fought  any  actions,  but  as  he  seemed 
to   have   kept  his  boat  out    of   harm's   way    and 

II 


98  ALBANIA 

not  to  have  wantonly  exposed  any  of  the  Sultan's 
men  or  ships,  he  was  doubtless   marked   out  for 
promotion.      The    flotilla   on    the  lake  originally 
consisted  of  three  boats,  but  one  was  somewhere 
at   the    bottom   of   the    Boiana,  and   so  the  two 
survivors  were  judiciously  kept  in  the  lake  in  case 
they   should   also    come    to    grief  if  they   again 
attempted  to  pass  the  shallows  and  rapids  of  the 
river.     Then  the  commodore  asked  us  if  we  should 
like   to  go  over  the  fleet,  and  we  accepted  with 
pleasure  ;  so,  after   the   final  directions  had  been 
given  to  the  four  gardening  sailors,  we  set  off  in 
procession  for  the  bazaar  and  the  outlet  of  the  river 
Boiana.     Giorgio  went  first,  perhaps  with  a  prouder 
air  than  usual;  next  came  the  commodore  sand- 
wiched between  our  two  selves,  while  the  rear  was 
brought  up  by  two  sailors.     In  this  order,  and  at  a 
grave  and  solemn  pace,  we  proceeded  through  the 
streets,  past  the  great    burial    ground   where  Ali 
Haidar  Pasha  lies  buried,  and,  turning  aside  by  the 
well  without  entering  the  bazaar,  crossed  the  fields 
to  a  spot  known  as  the  Twelve  Trees.     There  were 
only  four  trees  left  to  stretch  their  tall  branches 
towards  the  cloudless  sky,  and  a  melancholy  story 
attached  to  them.     Standing  alone  on  the  bank  of 
the    river   they  had  always  been   a  mark  for  the 
thunderstorms  which  are  such  constant  visitors  to 
Scodra,    and   gradually   their   number    had    been 


■■^.. 


SC'ODUA. 
The  Bazaar  witli  exit  of  the  Boiana  from  the  Lake. 


SCODRA. 
The  road  to  the  Bazaar  by  the  Konak. 


THE    COMMODORE  99 

reduced.  A  few  years  before  a  shepherd  and  his 
sheep,  crouching  under  their  shelter  from  the  pelting 
storm,  had  been  struck  by  lightning  and  all  killed, 
and  the  scarred  trunk  of  one  of  the  trees  still 
standing  served  as  a  grim  reminder  of  the  reason 
why  there  were  no  longer  twelve  trees. 

A  great  deal  of  shouting  from  the  two  sailors 
who  accompanied  us  brought  a  man-of-war's  boat 
to  carry  us  across  to  the  steamers.  We  entered 
the  boat,  Giorgio  and  the  two  sailors  remaining  on 
shore.  The  commodore  took  the  tiller,  and  the 
lithe  and  active  crew  from  the  Black  Sea  coast  took 
us  rapidly  towards  the  lake.  And  it  was  as  well  that 
they  did  so,  for  before  we  had  gone  very  far  we  dis- 
covered that  the  water  was  unpleasantly  high  in 
the  bottom  of  the  boat.  The  commodore  explained 
that  our  craft  was  one  of  two  boats  which  had 
recently  been  sent  from  Constantinople,  that  they 
had  been  left  for  some  time  on  the  shore  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Boiana  before  being  brought  up  the 
river,  and  that  consequently  some  of  the  seams  had 
started.  He  trusted  resignedly  that  they  would 
close  when  the  boat  had  been  in  the  water  a  little 
while,  and  meanwhile  counselled  us  to  put  our 
feet  up  on  the  thwart  in  front  of  us.  The  little 
brown  sailors  were  dressed  much  as  sailors  usually 
are,  except  that  they  wore  the  fez  which  has 
become   almost  the   only   distinguishing  part   of 


100  ALBANIA 

many  Turks'  dress,  for  their  loose  trousers,  and 
shirt  with  the  full,  wide  collar  of  dark  blue  cotton 
might  have  been  worn  by  the  mariners  of  any 
power.  In  a  few  minutes'  time  we  bumped 
against  the  side  of  the  flagship,  and  mounted  the 
broad  and  commodious  ladder  which  hung  over 
the  side.  Both  the  commodore  and  his  second  in 
command  were  stout  and  dignified,  and  had  no 
intention  of  scrambling  up  the  side  even  of  a 
penny  steamer  in  any  but  the  very  easiest 
fashion. 

The  captain  having  seen  us  on  the  shore  had 
made  preparations  in  our  honour  by  girding  on  his 
sword  and  buttoning  up  the  front  of  his  uniform 
all  awry.  He  salaamed  courteously,  and  the  bright 
blades  of  four  sailors  drawn  up  in  line  flashed  in 
the  sunshine  as  they  saluted  the  commodore  and 
ourselves.  Instantly  four  rush-bottomed  chairs 
were  thrust  up  the  hatchway  by  an  unseen  hand, 
and  we  took  our  seats  in  a  circle,  while  cigarettes 
and  coffee  were  handed  round — a  ceremony  which 
it  would  be  a  most  terrible  breach  of  etiquette  to 
omit.  This  done  we  strolled  round  the  ship,  a 
duty  very  quickly  finished.  The  vessel  carried  two 
guns,  one  a  little  brass  popgun  in  the  bows  used 
for  firing  salutes,  and  the  other  a  long  Krupp  gun 
in  the  stern,  which  would  in  all  probability  have 
shaken  the  old  tub  to  pieces  had  it  been  fired.     In 


-NEAl;    LAKE    SCODRA. 

Gipsies  itassing  throujj;h  a  small  town. 


^ 


NKAi;    I.AKK    S(  ()I>i;a. 
Moiiti'iiegrins  passiiii,'  tliroiii^h  a  small  town. 


THE   COxAIMODORE  101 

the  cabin  below  a  dozen  JVIartini-Peabody  rifles  and 
as  many  cutlasses,  all  well  kept  and  brightly 
polished,  were  arranged  in  a  stand  and  constituted 
the  armament  of  the  ship's  company. 

As  for  the  vessels  themselves,  they  were  built 
in  Glasgow  many  years  ago,  and  after  doing  good 
service  on  the  Clyde  were  bought  by  the  Turkish 
government  and  transferred  to  the  Bosphorus. 
There  they  ran  to  and  fro  for  fifteen  years  until  at 
last  the  Porte  conceived  the  brilliant  idea  of  turn- 
ing them  into  men-of-war  and  sending  them  to 
Lake  Scodra  to  overawe  Montenegro.  On  the 
wheel  were  recorded  the  builder's  name  and  the 
date.  Poor  old  boats  ;  they  were  not  very  effective 
in  overawing,  but  they  still  did  the  journey  to  and 
fro  across  the  lake,  especially  when  any  distin- 
guished personage  wished  to  go  from  Scodra  to 
Montenegro,  and  there  were  times  when  they 
transported  families  of  ragged  refugees  into  the 
already  poverty-harassed  city  of  Scodra. 

The  commodore  evidently  took  a  sort  of  pride 
in  his  command,  though  he  admitted  that  he  could 
get  no  great  speed  out  of  his  ships.  Pressed  on 
this  point  he  confessed  that  he  did  not  know  their 
rate  of  speed,  but  that  it  took  several  hours  to 
steam  to  Lissendra  at  the  far  end  of  the  lake.  "  No, 
there  is  no  coal.  That  is  a  great  drawback.  Some- 
times a  ship  brings  coal  and  leaves  some  at  Medua 


102  ALBANIA 

for  the  squadron,  but  there  has  been  none  for  some 
time  past."  The  vessels  therefore  had  to  burn 
wood,  and  when  they  crossed  the  lake  the  whole 
deck  was  cumbered  with  firewood,  so  that  at  first 
there  was  hardly  room  to  move,  but  the  furnaces 
burned  such  a  quantity  that  the  pile  was  soon 
diminished. 

The  captain  told  us  with  considerable  satisfac- 
tion that  he  could  speak  English,  but  as  he  made 
this  avowal  in  Turkish  we  were  naturally  rather 
sceptical  until  it  slowly  dawned  upon  us  that  the 
queer  sounds  with  which  he  followed  up  his  asser- 
tion were  English  words  of  command — "  Easer, 
stopper,  bakker,  turnerastern,  goaed."  The  captain 
reeled  off  the  phrases  in  a  low  voice  without  a 
pause  or  inflection,  looking  very  like  a  sheepish 
schoolboy  repeating  a  French  lesson.  He  also 
gave  us  the  English  names  for  parts  for  the  engine 
and  gear,  for  the  Turks  have  adopted  the  English 
terms  for  machinery  and  the  like,  and  the  Turkish 
language  even  boasts  such  a  verb  as  Trnrstrn-etmk, 
which  means  "  to  turn  her  astern." 

But  the  sun  was  drawing  near  IMount  Rumia, 
and  if  we  wished  to  be  home  before  aksham  we  had 
to  leave  at  once.  So,  as  the  commodore  expressed 
his  intention  of  remaining  on  board  for  some  time 
longer,  we  took  our  leave  of  him  and  the  captain, 
and  once  more  entrusted  ourselves  to  the  leaky 


THE   COMMODORE  103 

boat.  On  shore  Giorgio  received  us,  evidently 
rather  bored  by  his  long  wait,  and  after  giving  a 
present  to  the  boat's  crew  we  joined  the  crowd  of 
merchants  going  home  from  the  bazaar,  and  reached 
the  house  just  as  the  muezzin  was  mounting  the 
rickety  wooden  minaret  of  the  mosque  near  my 
door  and  preparing  to  summon  the  Faithful  to  the 
evening  prayer. 


IX 


THE   MALISSORI    CHIEF 


He  was  a  man  of  about  five  feet  ten  in  height,  with 
broad  shoulders  and  lean  flanks,  straight  as  a  dart, 
and  firmly  set  on  his  legs.  He  looked  a  mass  of 
steel  and  whipcord,  and  any  one  who  had  tried 
conclusions  with  him  in  a  rough  and  tumble  fight 
would  have  judged  such  a  description  rather  an 
under-statement  of  the  case. 

It  was  evidently  a  gala  day  with  him,  for  he 
was  dressed  in  all  his  best  and  newest.  His 
trousers  were  tight  and  close-fitting,  made  of  white 
felt  embroidered  with  black  silk.  Round  the  calves 
and  ankles  they  were  moulded  to  his  legs,  but  over 
the  foot  they  spread  out  something  like  spats.  His 
waistcoat  was  also  of  white  felt  embroidered  with 
black  silk,  double  breasted  and  adorned  with  full 
sleeves  beneath  which,  and  at  his  throat,  showed 
the  gauze  of  his  shirt,  a  garment  which  he  did  not 
usually  wear  but  which  he  had  put  on  in  honour 
of  the  occasion. 

On  his  left  breast  hung  three  silver  medals,  two 


THE   MALISSOIU    CHIEF  105 

of  which  showed  that  he  had  served  the  Padishah 
in  the  last  war,  and  the  third  was  an  English 
Crimean  medal  which  he  had  inherited  from  his 
father.  In  his  red  sila,  or  pouch-belt,  were  thrust 
a  couple  of  gold-inlaid  flint-lock  pistols  from 
Prisrend,  and  a  splendid  silver-hilted  yataghan 
with  a  Damascus  blade,  arms  which  he  valued 
more  than  his  Hfe.  Over  his  shoulders  he  wore  a 
short,  sleeveless,  black  felt  jacket,  and  on  his  head 
a  white  felt  skull  cap,  round  which  was  wound  a 
gauze  scarf  or  turban  with  the  ends  coming  under 
the  chin  and  falling  over  the  back.  On  his  feet 
were  raw  hide  sandals  o^'e^  thick  white  socks,  an 
unusual  thing  for  him  to  wear,  which  marked  that 
he  was  going  to  some  ceremony  where  it  would 
be  etiquette  to  remove  the  shoes.  His  face  and 
hands  were  like  leather,  in  his  ears  he  wore  silver- 
gilt  rings,  and  on  the  little  finger  of  his  right  hand 
the  heavy  silver  ring  of  the  mountain  dandy.  His 
moustache  was  long  and  bristling,  brushed  away 
from  tight-set  lips ;  his  nose  was  aquihne  and 
well  shaped,  and  his  eyes  dark  and  piercing  under 
his  heavy  brows.  He  stalked  with  a  leisurely 
stride,  like  a  king  among  men,  his  right  hand  rest- 
ing on  the  carved  silver  hilt  of  his  yataghan,  and 
his  quick  haw^k-like  eyes  turning  to  right  and  left 
as  he  went,  in  search  of  a  possible  enemy.  In  spite 
of  his  fierce  appearance  he  was  a  Christian,  and 


106  ALBANIA 

according  to  his  lights  a  fervent  CathoHc,  for 
he  was  Nik  Leka,  a  chief  among  the  Skreh,  a 
tribe  of  the  Mahssori  of  the  North  Albanian 
mountains. 

Presently  this  proud  and  magnificent  personage 
turned  across  a  httle  bridge  that  spanned  a  stream 
by  the  roadside,  and  strode  up  to  the  huge  gate- 
way of  the  Consulate-General,  upon  which  he 
knocked  as  one  who  has  a  right  to  demand  entry. 
A  guttural  voice  hurled  a  question  through  the 
solid  oak,  and  he  replied  with  such  dignity  that 
the  broad  portals  were  at  once  thrown  open  by 
Simon,  the  kavass,  in  fustanelle,  scarlet  jacket  and 
a  belt  full  of  pistols,  who  grunted  a  welcome  to 
him,  to  which  he  responded  with  an  equally 
benevolent  growl.  Then,  as  he  was  on  a  mission 
of  peace,  he  turned  into  the  kavasshana  almost 
with  an  air  of  proprietorship,  and  handed  over  his 
weapons  to  the  occupant,  much  in  the  same  way 
as  a  rich  Frank  deposits  his  wife's  diamonds  with 
his  banker.  But  in  Albania  pistols  are  more 
valuable  than  diamonds,  for  on  them  life  may 
depend  from  one  moment  to  another.  Then  he 
gave  a  shake  to  his  waistcoat,  now  disencumbered 
of  its  burden,  and  mounted  the  broad  flight  of 
stone  stairs  leading  to  the  old,  deep-eaved  house. 

At  the  top  of  the  steps  stood  the  consul- 
general,  brought  out  by  the  clatter  of  his  visitor's 


THE   MALISSOUl    CHIEF  107 

arrival,  and  welcomed  him  with  outstretched  hand, 
which  Nik  Leka  shook  rather  bashfully  after 
hurriedly  giving  the  .Turkish  salutation.  Then  it 
became  evident  that  the  chief  was  nervous,  he 
who  would  have  faced  a  Turkish  regiment  without 
blenching.  He  shuffled  off  his  sandals,  and  stood 
hesitating  in  his  coarse  white  socks.  But  the 
consul-general  seized  him  by  the  hand,  and,  talking 
reassuringly  as  one  would  to  a  child,  led  him, 
walking  shghtly  in  advance,  across  the  hall  to  the 
inner  room  which  had  once  been  the  harem  of  the 
old  house  and  was  now  the  dining-room  of  the 
Consulate-General.  Then  the  reason  of  the  chiefs 
shght  nervousness  became  apparent.  In  the  dining- 
room  were  assembled  the  rest  of  the  family  and, 
appalling  to  contemplate,  the  ladies.  Nik  Leka 
had  been  of  some  service  to  the  consul-general 
and,  as  it  was  impossible  to  offer  him  money,  he 
had  been  invited  to  luncheon  alia  franca. 

When  he  entered  the  presence  of  the  Frankish 
ladies  he  absolutely  refused  to  sit  down,  but 
remained  standing,  flashing  his  eyes  a  trifle  shame- 
fticedly  at  the  consul-general's  wife  and  daughter, 
and  salaaming  with  a  simple  dignity  which  no 
courtier  could  have  surpassed.  To  Nik  Leka  his 
womenfolk  acted  as  servants  ;  they  waited  upon 
him  at  all  times,  and  when  he  ate  they  stood 
humbly    by    until    he    had   finished   before  they 


108  ALBANIA 

ventured  to  take  the  dish  aside  and  eat  among 
themselves.  He  had  been  told  that  the  Franks 
allowed  their  women  to  eat  with  them,  and  even 
with  other  men,  but  he  had  hardly  believed  this  to 
be  true,  so  for  fear  of  transgressing  he  stood  quite 
still  and  salaamed  again,  giving  a  greeting  m 
guttural  Albanian.  He  did  not  feel  abashed  at 
the  ladies  being  unveiled,  because  mountaineer 
women  never  hide  their  faces  and,  except  that  they 
are  as  servants  in  the  house,  are  treated  with  the 
greatest  respect.  Happily  the  tension  was  relieved 
by  the  arrival  of  dinner,  brought  in  by  Noce,  the 
body  servant,  who  was  an  Albanian  townsman, 
and  who  could  hardly  stifle  his  grins  at  the 
thought  of  a  mountaineer  eating  alia  franca  in 
the  master's  harem.  But  he  discreetly  subdued  his 
grins,  for  Nik  Leka  had  sharp  eyes,  and  a  long 
brass  ramrod  in  his  belt  downstairs,  and  it  might  be 
that  he  would  remember  in  the  future  on  a  country 
road  any  intempestive  mirth  on  Noce's  part. 

The  chief  was  given  the  place  of  honour  at  the 
hostess'  right  hand,  and  with  evident  misgivings 
entrusted  himself  to  a  chair,  and  forbore  the 
attempt  to  curl  his  legs  up  under  him,  which  he 
was  sharp  enough  to  see  would  certainly  entail 
disaster.  Out  of  the  corner  of  his  keen  eyes  he 
watched  to  see  how  his  hosts  acted  with  the 
strange  objects  in  front  of  him.     At  every  moment 


THE   MALISSORI    CHIEF  109 

there  was  something  new :  a  napkin,  a  niultipHcity 
of  knives,  spoons  and  forks,  phites,  and  a  table 
covered  with  strange  and  outlandish  utensils,  even 
flowers,  such  as  no  mountain  house  had  ever 
contained.  At  home,  when  he  ate  meat  or  cheese, 
he  simply  squatted  down  before  the  low  table,  on 
which  the  food  was  placed,  and  drew  his  sheath 
knife,  a  knife  that  did  equally  well  for  cutting  up 
meat,  bread  and  cheese,  or  for  finishing  off'  a  wild 
boar  or  an  enemy;  but  here  this  superfluity  of 
unaccustomed  tools  puzzled  him.  He  would  not 
betray  his  ignorance,  for,  though  he  did  not  mind 
not  understanding  the  ways  of  the  Franks,  he 
knew  that  Noce  was  familiar  with  the  use  of  all 
these  things,  and  the  thought  half  shaped  itself  in 
his  mind  that  perhaps  a  mere  townsman  might 
be  mocking  at  his  want  of  knowledge  behind  his 
back.  So  with  marvellous  adroitness  he  watched 
his  hosts  and  imitated  them  in  every  particular, 
and  Noce,  who  was  bursting  to  prove  his  superi- 
ority, did  not  dare  to  offer  the  slightest  hint  to  the 
great  warrior. 

And  a  great  warrior  Nik  Leka  was.  Humour 
credited  him  with  having  slain  many  men,  but  all 
of  them  with  the  strictest  attention  to  the  etiquette 
of  the  Albanian  mountains.  Moreover,  he  had 
bearded  the  Pasha,  or  rather  one  of  his  officers,  in 
the    Konak   itself  with   thousands   of  soldiers   all 


no  ALBANIA 

round,  and  with  only  one  or  two  of  his  tribesmen 
within  hail.      It  happened  when  he  was  visiting 
the  Vali  Pasha  about  some  tribal  affiiir,  and  he  and 
a  lesser  chief  were  at  the  council  with  the  Pasha 
and  all  his  officers.     He  was  simple  and  haughty 
in  his  attitude  and  language,  and  so   irritated   a 
major  newly  arrived  from  Constantinople  who  did 
not  understand  the  ways  of  mountaineers,  that  the 
unwary   officer  ventured   to   tell   the    Dog    of   a 
Christian  not  to  speak  so  freely  in  the  presence  of 
his  Excellency  the  Vali  Pasha.     Nik  Leka  knew 
enough  Turkish  to  understand  that  without   the 
help  of  the  interpreter.     In  two  bounds   he  was 
across  the  room,  had  seized  the  officious  major  by 
the  throat,  and  was  about  to  avenge  himself  for  the 
insult,  when  he  was  dragged  from  his  victim  by 
half  a  dozen  of  the  council,  who  knew  that  the 
major's  life   might   pay   for  his   ignorant   speech. 
Nik  Leka  was  only  pacified  by  an  assurance  from 
the  Vali  Pasha  that  the  major  had  spoken  out  of 
an  empty  head,  and  by  a  humble  apology  forced 
from  the  astonished  offisnder,  who  could  not  under- 
stand such  an  attitude  on  the  part  of  a  Christian 
who  was  not  even  a  Frank.     Nik  Leka  returned  to 
his  seat  on  the  divan,  where  he  sat  through  the  rest 
of  the  proceedings  with  his  moustaches   bristling 
like  those  of  an  angry  tiger.     During  the  rest  of 
his  stay  in  Albania  the  major  from  Constantinople 


THE   MALISSORI    CHIEF  111 

took  good  care  never  to  olFend  in  that  way  again, 
and  Nik  Leka's  reputation  increased  accordingly 
both  in  the  city  and  in  the  mountains. 

But  for  the  chief  himself  a  luncheon  alia  franca 
was  a  much  more  serious  and  awe-inspiring  event. 
In  spite  of  the  novelty  of  all  around  him,  by 
watching  carefully  he  managed  to  do  as  the  Franks 
did,  and  his  native  tact  and  dignity  pulled  him 
through  with  hardly  a  slip.  There  are  not  many 
topics  of  conversation  common  to  a  mountaineer 
chieftain  and  a  Frank,  even  a  Frank  who  under- 
stands the  native  mind  as  the  consul-general  did, 
but  with  Noce  for  interpreter,  and  an  adroit  series 
of  questions,  the  talk  never  flagged  more  than  was 
necessary  to  allow  Nik  Leka  to  make  a  hearty 
meal  in  his  unaccustomed  surroundings.  The 
luncheon  was  plentiful  but  not  elaborate.  The 
chief's  palate  was  used  only  to  the  plainest  food, 
and  he  drank  no  wine,  nothing  but  water  fresh 
from  the  deep  well  in  the  yard  by  the  kavasshana. 
Handicapped  as  he  was  by  having  to  manipulate 
his  food  with  strange  instruments,  and  by  being 
deprived  of  the  proper  use  of  his  fingers,  the 
natural  means  of  conveying  food  to  the  mouth, 
which,  in  their  foolishness,  the  Franks  neglect,  he 
made  a  hungry  mountaineer's  meal,  and  happily 
forbore  to  return  thanks  for  the  hospitality  in  the 
Oriental  manner. 


112  ALBANIA 

He  must  have  been  as  relieved  as  his  hosts 
were,  though  neither  side  showed  it,  when  the 
coffee  and  the  cigarettes  were  handed  round,  for 
there  he  was  in  his  own  country.  With  coffee  and 
cio-arettes  he  was  to  the  manner  born,  and  the  zarfs, 
in  which  the  httle  cups  were  placed,  extorted  his 
first  tribute  of  admiration,  for  he  knew  them  for 
worked  silver  from  Prisrend  and  could  appreciate 
tliem  as  a  connoisseur,  whereas  the  trappings  of  the 
luncheon  table  were  so  many  Frankish  mysteries 
to  him.  For  his  own  comfort  he  was  not  offered 
another  chair,  but  was  conducted  to  a  broad,  low 
divan  by  the  side  of  the  room,  on  which  he  could 
curl  one  leg  up  under  him  in  comfort.  A  little 
octagonal  table  was  placed  in  front  of  him,  on 
which  stood  his  coffee  cup  and  ash  tray,  and  after 
smoking  the  cigarettes  and  drinking  the  coffee 
which  custom  enjoined  on  him,  he  salaamed  with 
stately  dignity  to  the  ladies  and  was  again  con- 
ducted across  the  little  hall  to  the  door  by  the 
consul-general.  There  he  once  more  put  on  his 
raw  hide  sandals,  and  with  a  warm  interchange  of 
compUments  in  their  respective  and  mutually 
unknown  tongues,  the  consul-general  and  he 
parted  at  the  top  of  the  steps,  both  heartily 
thankful  that  the  ceremony  had  gone  off  without  a 
hitch. 

The  kavass  returned  Nik  Leka  his  pistols  and 


THE   MALISSOKI    CHIEF  113 

yataghan  with  the  added  respect  due  to  one  who 
had  successfully  broken  bread  with  the  Konsolos 
Pasha  in  his  harem,  and  who  was  apparently  none 
the  worse  for  the  ordeal.  There  may  have  been 
an  extra  touch  of  stateliness  as  the  chief  strode 
through  the  wide  gateway  into  the  street,  but  it 
would  not  have  been  noticed  by  any  but  his  nearest 
friends.  He  had  too  much  native  dignity  to  show 
astonishment  at  anything,  though  it  is  more  than 
probable  that  his  experiences  at  the  Frankish  feast 
provided  material  for  his  abrupt  and  staccato  style 
of  conversation  for  a  long  while  afterwards.  Any- 
how, he  looked  upon  the  entertainment  as  a  kind  of 
additional  medal  upon  his  breast,  almost  ranking 
with  the  silver  Queen's  head  which  his  father  had 
won  in  the  Crimea,  and  which  he  wore  by  the  right 
of  inheritance  by  the  side  of  his  own  decorations. 


X 

ALBANIAN    BLOOD-FEUDS 

ScoDRA  has  for  many  centuries  past  had  an  evil 
reputation     for    blood-feuds     and     assassinations, 
Here,  as  in  most  other  semi-civilised  communities, 
the  law  has  always  been  extremely  uncertain,  and 
the    yataghan    and    pistol    prompt   and   decisive. 
And  more  recently  there  was  no  need  to  go  into 
the     mountains     for     evidence     on     this     point. 
Between   the  end  of  the  public  garden  and  the 
entrance  to  the  Konak  was  a  long  lane  or  passage 
between  two  high  walls,  which  shut  in  houses  and 
gardens  on  each  hand.      At  the  top  of  this  passage 
were  the  great  gates  of  two  houses  ;  and  at  the 
bottom  of  it  sat  a  mountaineer  in  Mirdite  costume, 
with  a  rifle  across  his  knees.       For  hours  together 
he  sat  there  looking  up  and  down  the  road,  and 
guarding  the  entrance  to  the  lane  leading  to  his 
chiefs  house.     After  a  time  he  was  reheved  by  a 
man  the  counterpart  of  himself,  who  took  his  seat 
upon  the  vacated  stone ;  and  then  the  first  guard, 
after   stretching   himself  and   exchanging    a    few 


ALBANIAN    BLOOD-FEUDS         115 

words  with  his  relief,  slowly  strode  up  the  lane 
and  disappeared  through  one  of  the  great  gates 
at  the  top.  That  stone  by  the  side  of  the  road 
was  never  without  a  mountaineer  with  his  rifle 
across  his  knees,  and  his  pistol  in  his  sila,  calmly 
smoking  cigarettes  and  exchanging  nods  with 
passers-by  of  his  acquaintance. 

In  one  of  the  houses  at  the  end  of  the  lane 
there  lived  an  agha  of  INIiddle  Albania,  who  had 
fled  from  his  own  country  on  account  of  a  blood- 
feud  with  a  neighbouring  family  of  greater 
strength  and  importance  than  his  own.  The  chief 
of  the  most  powerful  family  in  the  agha's  district 
was  a  young  bey,  who  had  been  educated  in 
France,  and  who,  besides  the  habit  of  wearing 
Frankish  dress,  had  brought  back  from  Europe 
only  the  vices  of  his  school-fellows  and  none  of 
their  few  virtues.  In  an  altercation  on  some 
trifling  matter,  this  young  bey  struck  the  agha  in 
the  face  ;  and,  instantly,  like  the  Montagus  and 
Capulets,  the  relatives  and  retainers  of  the  two 
chiefs  drew  pistol  and  yataghan  upon  one  another, 
and  a  brisk  skirmish  ensued,  in  which  several  men 
were  killed  and  more  wounded.  For  some  time 
the  houses  of  the  two  chiefs  were  in  a  state  of 
siege,  and  whenever  the  rival  factions  met  in  the 
street  or  in  the  bazaar,  a  free  fight  occurred,  to 
the   temporary    uiterruption   of  business.      These 


116  ALBANIA 

constant  battles  became  such  a  nuisance,  and  were 
carried  on  so  ruthlessly,  that  the  Turkish 
government  at  last  interfered,  and  succeeded  in 
deporting  the  agha  and  his  family  to  Scodra, 
where  they  lived  more  or  less  as  state  prisoners, 
leaving  the  bey's  family  masters  of  the  field. 

Nearly  every  day  the  agha  quitted  his  walled- 
in  and  fortified  house  and  went  for  a  walk  in  the 
afternoon.     First  marched  a  retainer  with  a  rifle 
on  his  shoulder,  and  a  perfect  arsenal  of  smaller 
weapons  in  his  girdle.     About  five  yards  behind 
came  the  agha,  a  tall,  lean,  well-knit  man  of  fifty, 
but  looking  about  thirty.     His  long  moustaches 
were  still  golden-brown  and  his  sun-burnt,  clean- 
shaven  face  was  smooth  and  without  a  wrinkle. 
His  head  was  shaved  above  the  forehead ;    and  on 
the  top  his  hair  was  cropped   close  and   covered 
with  a  fez,  so  that  no  gray  hair  told  of  advancing 
age.      He  wore  the  mountaineer  costume  of  tight 
trousers  and  short  jacket ;   but  his  waistcoat  was 
a  blaze   of  gold  embroidery  that  almost  hid  the 
crimson- velvet  ground  on  which  it   was  worked ; 
and  his  trousers  were  seamed  with  heavy  stripes  of 
gold  lace.     He  wore  jack-boots  reaching  to  just 
below  the  knee,  and  they  were  triumphs  of  his 
boot-maker's  art,  being  worked  all  over  with  gold 
and  silver  wire  in  many  a  fantastic  pattern   and 
device.       And    so     he     stalked     proudly     along, 


ALBANIAN    BLOOD-FEUDS         117 

glancing   iihout   him  with  eyes  like  a   hawk,  his 
hand    resting    on   the   carved   silver   butt   of  his 
pistol.      Behind  him,  at  intervals  of  about  a  yard, 
followed  his  two  sons,  each   one   with   his   right 
hand  grasping  a  weapon  ;  and  bringing  up  the  rear 
came  two  more  IMirdites  with  rifles  and   pistols. 
They  marched  along  at  a  slow  and  stately  pace 
in  Indian   file  at   the   side   of  the   road,  without 
exchanging  a  word  except  w^hen,  at  rare  intervals, 
the  chief  jerked  a  word  over  his  shoulder  at  the 
son  following  him,  and  received  a  grunt  in  reply. 

In  this  cheerful  fiishion  they  strode  along  past 
the    public    garden    through    the   streets   to   the 
Turkish   quarter,   where  perhaps   they  visited  an 
acquaintance  ;  and  then  they  stalked  home  again 
as  solemnly  as  if  they  were  attending  their  own 
funerals.     Some  day  they  expected  to  meet  a  body 
of  their  enemies  in  the  street,  for  they  owed  blood 
to  the  bey's  family  ;  and  then  a  battle  would  begin 
where    they    stood,   and   unlucky   would   be   the 
passer-by,   European    or   otherwise,  who   did   not 
bolt  to  the  nearest  place  of  shelter,  for  rifles  and 
pistols  would  ring  sharply  out,  and  bullets  wiiistle 
up  and  down  the  road  with  little  regard  for  harm- 
less men  going  about  their  lawful  business.      If  a 
company  of  the  Turkish  zaptiehs  joined  in.  under 
the  pretence  of  separating  the  combatants,  matters 
would  be  ten  times  worse,  for  these  latter  might 


118  ALBANIA 

be  trusted  to  fire  their  Martini-Peabodies 
"  promiscuously  "  at  the  crowd,  and  would  in  all 
probability  draw  the  fire  of  both  parties  upon 
themselves  for  interfering  in  matters  which  did 
not  concern  them.  And  the  people  who 
would  suffer  most  would  be  the  unwilhng 
spectators  who  had  not  been  able  to  get 
under  cover  in  time.  Happily,  there  was 
little  or  no  chance  of  such  a  catastrophe,  for 
Scodra  was,  even  then,  getting  too  civilised  for 
faction-fights  in  the  streets,  and  the  Pasha  knew 
better  than  to  let  such  things  occur,  when  he  had 
four  or  five  consuls  in  the  town  at  one  end  of 
the  telegraph  mre,  and  the  ambassadors  at 
Constantinople  at  the  other.  So  the  bey's  family 
was  no  doubt  carefully  watched,  and  any  large 
party  of  them  would  have  been  promptly 
prevented  from  entering  the  city,  had  they 
ventured  to  approach  it ;  and  without  a  strong 
body  of  men  it  would  have  been  madness  to 
attack  our  friend  the  agha,  for  he  was  well 
guarded,  and,  moreover,  under  the  protection  and 
surveillance  of  the  government. 

But  isolated  affairs  of  honour  were  by  no 
means  rare,  and  men  who  had  blood-feuds  were 
frequently  shot  down  in  the  streets  or  bazaar. 
The  month  of  llamazan  was  particularly  fruitful 
in    such    efforts    to     obtain    justice    or    revenge. 


ALBANIAN   BLOOD-FEUDS         119 

During  this  month,  no  good  Mussuhnan  may 
touch  food  or  drink  from  sunrise  to  sunset ;  he 
may  not  even  drink  a  single  cup  of  coffee  or  smoke 
a  soHtary  cigarette.  It  can  easily  he  imagined 
what  a  painful  trial  this  is  when  Ramazan  occurs 
in  the  summer,  and  how  terrible  must  be  this 
enforced  abstinence  from  food  and  drink  under  a 
broiling  July  or  August  sun,  when  almost  every 
scrap  of  vegetation  is  burnt  up,  when  no  rain  has 
fallen  for  months,  and  the  very  air  seems  like  the 
blast  from  a  furnace.  The  hours  between  sunset 
and  sunrise  are  so  short  in  the  summer  that  there 
is  little  time  for  feasting,  and  the  long  hours  of 
daylight  can  with  difficulty  be  whiled  away  in 
sleep,  even  if  there  is  no  work  to  be  done  in  the 
bazaar  or  in  the  city. 

And  so  every  now  and  then  during  llamazan 
groups  of  hungry  and  thirsty  INIussulmans  might 
be  seen  standing  at  their  gates,  watching  for  the 
sun  to  go  down,  and  scowling  savagely  at  the 
"  dogs  of  Christians "  who  went  cheerfully  about 
puffing  their  cigarette  smoke  after  a  good 
meal  at  midday,  and  as  much  coffee  as  they 
could  drink  all  day.  It  by  no  means  im- 
proved their  tempers  to  see  well-fed  "  infidels " 
going  home  while  they  were  watching  for 
the  guns  from  the  castle,  with  which  sunset  was 
saluted  during  llamazan,  to  tell  them  that  their 


120  ALBANIA 

sixteen-hour  fast  was  over  ;  and  so  more  men  were 
shot  down  in  private  quarrels  during  that  month 
than  any  other  month  of  the  whole  year.  Only 
a  few  years  ago,  fourteen  men  were  shot  in 
Ramazan  ;  but  every  year  the  number  of  these 
murders  grew  less,  for  Scodra  was  slowly 
becoming  civilised,  and  the  influence  of  Europe 
getting  more  powerful.  Still,  about  once  a  month 
regularly  throughout  the  year,  Simon  the  cook 
having  bothered  me  to  decide  whether  muscular 
fowl  or  leathery  beef  would  be  less  distasteful  to 
me  for  dinner,  stood  fez  in  hand,  evidently 
brimming  over  with  news.  I  felt  that  I  was 
expected  to  inquire  what  the  news  was,  and  I  did 
so.  "  Has  your  lordship  heard,"  he  said  eagerly, 
"  that  Hassan  has  shot  the  son  of  that  Hussein  ? " 
Simon  always  referred  to  his  fellow-countrymen 
by  their  first  names,  prefixing  with  airy  indefinite- 
ness  the  pronoun  "  that." 

"  What  Hassan  ?  "  I  remarked,  for  there  were 
probably  two  or  three  hundred  in  the  city. 

"  The  son  of  that  Selim  who  lives  near  the 
bazaar." 

Having  localised  my  man,  I  proceeded: 
"  Why  did  he  shoot  Hussein  ?  " 

"  How  should  I  know  ?  The  evil  one  entered 
into  his  head." 

As  the  occurrence  happened  so  recently,  it  was 


ALBANIAN   BLOOD-FEUDS         121 

difficult  to  extract  more  than  a  bare  outline  of 
facts  from  my  cook.  The  next  day,  when  he  had 
had  time  to  discuss  the  matter  fully  with  his 
friends  over  a  glass  or  two  of  raid,  he  used  to  give 
me  full  and  marvellous  details  ;  but  on  the  day 
the  man  was  shot  his  brain  had  not  time  to  grasp 
more  than  the  simple  fact  that  one  man  had  shot 
another. 

The    causes   of  these   unhappy   quarrels   were 
frequently  very  trivial.     A  dispute  over  a  game  at 
cards,  or  a  jostle  in  the  bazaar  would  suffice  to 
make  a  man  fire  upon  his  neighbour  and  shoot  him 
dead.      And  the  matter  did  not  end  there.     Every 
member  of  the  murdered  man's  family  was  bound 
in   honour   to  seek  out  and  shoot   the   murderer 
wherever  he  could  find  him.     If  he  could  not  find 
the  actual  homicide,  then  he  had  to  kill  the  brother, 
or  the  son,  or  some  near  relative ;  and  having  in 
this  manner  appeased  the  spirit  of  his  murdered 
kinsman,  the  right  of  blood  passed  over  to   the 
family  of  the  original  murderer,  and  they  in  their 
turn  might  lie  in  wait  for  one  of  their  enemy's  clan, 
picking  out  for  choice  an  only  son,  or  the  man 
whose  death  would  cause  the  greatest  grief  and 
distress  to  the  opposite  side.     These  feuds  went  on 
from  generation  to   generation,   and   the   original 
cause  of  some  of  them  was  lost  in  antiquity. 

In    1857    the    Turkish    government    made    a 


122  ALBANIA 

vigorous  attempt  to  put  down  the  vendetta,  for 
over  five  hundred  men  of  Scodra  alone  were 
wandering  houseless  and  homeless  among  the 
mountains  on  account  of  blood-feuds.  Nearly 
every  tribe  accepted  the  truce  excepting  the 
Mirdites ;  but  the  wild  law  of  a  life  for  a  life  was 
never  finally  stamped  out,  and  never  will  be  until 
a  firm  and  settled  government  makes  its  adminis- 
tration of  justice  independent  of  baksheesh,  and 
respected  by  the  tribes  as  without  fear  or  favour. 
The  Roman  Catholic  priests  did  their  best  to  stop 
the  blood-feud  in  the  mountains,  but  without  avail. 
A  reforming  young  priest  once  went  so  far  as  to 
excommunicate  a  man  who  had  notoriously  killed 
several  persons  in  a  blood-feud.  The  murderer, 
beUeving  himself  shut  out  from  heaven,  not  by  his 
own  misdeeds,  but  by  the  over-zealous  action  of  the 
priest,  called  upon  him,  and  threatened  him  with 
instant  death  if  he  did  not  then  and  there  withdraw 
the  sentence  of  excommunication.  The  poor  priest 
tried  to  shuffle  out  of  it,  but  in  vain ;  the 
mountaineer  was  inexorable,  and  after  obtaining 
his  absolution,  marched  off  with  the  warning  that 
His  Reverence  had  better  confine  himself  for  the 
future  to  his  own  province. 

A  quarrel  once  arose  between  two  friends 
because  one  had  promised  the  other  fourteen 
cartridges,  and  afterwards  refused  them,  and  as  a 


ALBANIAN   BLOOD-FEUDS         123 

consequence,  twelve  men  lost  their  lives  in  one 
day.  A  terrible  feud  between  two  mountaineer 
families  had  its  origin  in  a  pig  eating  the  young 
crops  of  a  neighbour  as  they  were  springing  up. 
The  owner  of  the  crops  shot  the  pig,  and  the  owner 
of  the  pig  instantly  shot  the  slayer  of  his  animal ; 
and  many  years  passed  and  many  lives  were  lost 
before  this  blood-feud  was  appeased  and  the  bcssa 
established.  But  often  the  causes  of  a  blood-feud 
were  serious  enough.  Many  arose  from  a  young 
girl  having  been  carried  off  without  her  parents' 
consent,  and  in  Albania  any  insult  to  a  woman 
was  promptly  punished  with  death.  An  injured 
husband  was  bound  to  avenge  the  stain  on  his 
family  and  himself  by  shooting  the  offender,  or 
ever  remain  a  disgraced  and  dishonoured  man. 

One  day  I  was  going  along  a  street  in  the 
Turkish  quarter  when  I  saw  a  head  and  the  barrel 
of  a  rifle  protruding  round  the  corner  of  a  by-street 
just  ahead  of  me.  When  I  reached  the  spot  I  saw 
a  young  INIussulman  of  the  town  sitting  calmly  on 
a  large  stone,  like  the  agha's  mountaineer,  but 
with  a  different  purpose.  In  the  street  I  had  just 
come  up  was  the  entrance  to  his  enemy's  house, 
and  every  day  for  weeks  past  he  had  been  watching 
that  doorway  for  several  hours  a  day.  When  he 
heard  footsteps  coming,  he  peeped  round  the 
corner,  as  he  did  when  I  came  along ;  but  generally 


124  ALBANIA 

he  sat  on  his  stone,  whence  he  could  just  see  the 
gateway.     His  family  was  at  feud  with  the  owner 
of  the  house,  and  the  last  victim  who  fell  was  his 
brother,  shot  as  he  was  going  to  his  shop  in  the 
bazaar.     The  avenger  of  blood  was  a  tall   youth 
about  twenty-three  years  of  age,  and  he  used  to 
wait  patiently  in  the  hope  that  his  enemy  or  his 
enemy's  son  would  come  out  of  those  great  gates, 
so  that  he  might  avenge  his  brother.     They  owed 
him  blood,  and  so,  until  he  had  fired,  no  one  could 
fire  upon  him.     The  inhabitants  of  the  house  knew 
that  they  were  watched,  and  now  and  then,  when 
the  young  man  was  not  at  his  post,  the  father  or 
son    slipped    out,    and    returned    stealthily    after 
aksham ;    but   the   servants,  women,   and   cousins 
moved  in  and  out  freely  all  day,  for  in  Albania  no 
man  touches  a  woman,  and  the   distant  relatives 
were    comparatively    safe    as    long    as   the    chief 
offender  was  unharmed.      A  day  came  when  the 
young    fellow's    long    vigil    was    successful ;    the 
enemy  left  the  house  thinking  all  safe,  and  then 
a   rifle  bullet   avenged  his  dead    brother's   blood. 
He  waited  long  and  patiently,  and  until  he  had 
attained  his  object  did  not  raise  the  siege  of  the 
house.     Nothing  could  turn  him  from  his  purpose, 
for  he  would  be  disgraced  for  ever  if  his  brother's 
murder  had  gone  unavenged. 

Along    the    street    which    we    knew    as    the 


ALBANIAN    BLOOD  FEUDS         125 

Boulevard  Diplomatique,  not  far  from  the  stone  on 
whicli  the  avenger  of  blood  was  sitting,  there  used 
to  stroll  a  personage  in  a  large  measure  accountable 
for  the  persistence  of  the  blood-feud  in  Albania. 
He  was  a  stout  little  gentleman  in  a  Stambouli 
uniform,  with  his  fez  slightly  on  the  back  of  his 
head,  and  his  hands  crossed  behind  him,  twiddling 
a  string  of  amber  beads.  He  was  a  jovial- looking 
little  man,  although  he  walked  so  slowly  and 
solemnly,  with  his  two  secretaries  or  attendants 
behind  him.  He  represented  the  blind  goddess, 
for  he  was  the  supreme  judge  of  the  mercantile 
court.  He  was  also  a  Levantine  Greek  and  a 
plausible  and  unscrupulous  rogue. 

With  what  a  charming  air  of  old-fashioned 
courtesy  he  saluted  us !  how  politely  and  even 
eloquently  he  discoursed  of  indifferent  topics  of  the 
day  !  In  his  court  he  was  just  as  polite ;  but  the 
suitors  knew  that  it  was  quite  as  well  to  have 
the  judge  on  their  side,  and  that  his  taste  for 
curious  and  antique  works  of  art  was  rather  more 
expensive  than  his  salary  would  permit  him  to 
gratify ;  and  so,  somehow  or  other,  before  an 
important  case  came  on,  valuable  rugs  or  chased 
silver  ornaments  used  to  find  their  way  to  the 
judge's  house  as  presents.  Should  Barbelushi  and 
Skreli  go  to  law,  and  should  Barbelushi,  foolishly 
relying  on  what  he  considered  the  justice  of  his 


126  ALBANIA 

cause,  omit  to  play  a  counter-move  to  the 
gloriously  patterned  carpet  that  had  mysteriously 
found  its  way  from  Skreli's  house  to  the 
President's,  he  inevitably  lost  his  case  ;  the  matter 
was  too  simple  for  a  moment's  doubt.  But  let  us 
suppose  that  a  friend  of  Barbelushi  had  informed 
our  little  acquaintance  that  a  pistol  with  a  mag- 
nificently carved  silver  butt  was  awaiting  his 
acceptance,  and  that  only  Barbelushi's  native 
modesty  had  prevented  him  from  offering  it 
long  since  as  a  testimony  of  regard  for  so  upright 
and  learned  a  judge ;  then  the  matter  became 
more  complicated,  and  it  required  all  the  ingenuity 
and  tact  of  a  Greek  to  see  that  justice  was  done. 

When  the  case  came  on  the  President  of  the 
Court  was  even  more  courteous  and  affable  to  the 
litigants  than  usual ;  he  had  weighed  the  matter 
over  well,  and  had  decided,  we  will  say,  that  he 
had  plenty  of  carpets  for  the  present ;  that  Barbe- 
lushi's pistol  was  a  very  handsome  specimen,  and 
that  perhaps  by  judicious  hints  the  fellow  to  it, 
which  he  knew  was  in  existence,  might  be  enticed 
from  Barbelushi's  house  to  his  own.  When  the 
arguments  had  been  heard,  the  President  and  his 
two  colleagues  conferred  over  the  matter  before 
giving  their  judgment,  and  the  former  spoke  very 
strongly  in  favour  of  the  justice  of  Barbelushi's 
claim — so  strongly  in  fact  that  the  two  colleagues, 


ALBANIAN   BLOOD-FEUDS         127 

seeing  which  way  the  wind  was  blowing,  and 
being  too  wise  in  their  generation  to  oppose  their 
chief,  gave  their  votes  for  Barbelushi.  Thereupon 
the  President  played  a  master  stroke,  and  gave  his 
own  vote  for  Skreli ;  but  being  outvoted,  judg- 
ment was  recorded  for  Barbelushi.  The  latter, 
rejoiced  at  winning  his  suit,  returned  the  judge  his 
most  grateful  thanks  for  the  eminent  justice  and 
skill  in  the  law  displayed  by  his  Excellency  ;  and 
going  home  at  once  despatched  the  second  pistol 
as  a  proof  of  his  gratitude. 

But  poor  Skreli  was  naturally  much  disap- 
pointed, and  fancied  that  his  carpet  was  lost  for 
nothing.  However,  he  was  too  good  a  fish  to  be 
thrown  away,  so  the  President  took  the  first 
opportunity  of  condoling  with  him  on  his  mis- 
fortune, and  assured  him  that  it  was  entirely  owing 
to  the  majority  being  on  the  other  side ;  for  that, 
as  the  records  of  the  court  would  show,  he  himself 
voted  for  Skreli.  And  all  this  was  said  with  so 
much  apparent  sympathy,  and  with  so  much 
sorrow  that  his  efforts  should  have  been  unavail- 
ing, that  the  simple  Skreli  was  almost  consoled 
for  his  loss,  and  went  home  resolving  that  before 
his  next  lawsuit  a  much  better  carpet  should 
become  the  property  of  so  worthy  and  upright 
a  judge.  And  thus  all  parties  were  quite  satis- 
fied ;   and    the    law,    as    in    other    parts    of    the 


128  ALBANIA 

world,  got  the  oyster  while  the  litigants  got  the 
shells. 

But  tricks,  however  cunning,  get  seen  through 
at  last,  and  the  judge  and  his  predecessors  in  office 
were  no  doubt  largely  responsible  for  that  hole  in 
the  wall  of  the  house  opposite  to  us.  The  owner 
of  the  house  evidently  did  not  think  his  white  wall 
disfigured  by  the  hole,  for  he  had  not  taken  the 
trouble  to  plaster  it  up,  though  it  was  probably 
plugged  on  the  inside  to  keep  out  the  draught. 
There  were  two  kinds  of  justice  in  Albania,  and 
the  bullet  hole  served  as  the  visible  sign  of  one,  as 
the  President  of  the  Court  did  of  the  other.  Long 
before  the  Ottomans  were  heard  of,  the  law  of  the 
blood-feud  and  of  the  responsibility  of  the  family 
for  the  misdeeds  of  all  its  members  was  the  only 
code  known  ;  and  under  the  Turks  the  Albanians 
had  not  become  sufficiently  civilised  to  perceive 
the  advantages  of  the  government  method,  so 
those  of  them  who  had  not  mixed  much  with 
Europeans  used  to  draw  their  pistols  when  they 
met  an  enemy,  instead  of  dragging  him  before  the 
court.  Usually  the  Mussulmans  of  the  town  and 
the  Christians  of  the  mountains  went  everywhere 
with  pistols  and  yataghan  in  their  belts ;  only  the 
Christians  of  the  city  carried  no  arms.  The  justice 
of  the  law-court  was  uncertain,  expensive,  and 
unsuited    to    a     nation    of    warriors ;    while    the 


ALBANIAN    BLOOD-FEUDS         129 

blood-feud  was  honourable  and  cost  no  more  than  a 
charge  of  powder  and  a  bullet.  And  so  the  streets 
and  bazaar  of  Scodra  used  to  be  enlivened  by 
an  interchange  of  shots  whenever  the  members 
of  families  which  had  blood  between  them 
encountered  one  another. 

But  all  this  was  part  of  the  old  regime.  The 
new  kingdom  of  Albania  will  of  course  abolish  the 
blood-feud,  a  thing  which  the  Turks  and  the 
priests  did  very  frequently,  but  without  finality. 
The  law-courts'  method  of  settling  disputes  has  so 
far  not  endeared  itself  to  the  tribesmen,  and 
Europeans  must  not  be  astonished  if  it  takes 
some  little  time  and  a  good  deal  of  persuasion 
to  make  the  Albanians  conscious  of  its  beauties. 


XI 

IN   THE    AI>BANIAN   MOUNTAINS 

Living  in  Scodra  did  not  mean  uninterrupted  resi- 
dence in  the  city.  In  order  to  gain  a  real  and  clear 
idea  of  the  people,  mountaineers  as  well  as  towns 
men,  it  was  necessary  to  make  many  excursions  into 
the  country,  visits  to  the  villages  and  shooting 
expeditions,  and  so  it  happened  that  I  found 
myself  sitting  on  an  old  packing-case  outside 
an  Albanian  cottage  in  the  Great  Mountains, 
looking  down  a  long  arid  slope  of  stony  plain  to 
the  distant  hills  across  the  lake.  At  my  side  a 
lithe,  broad-shouldered  mountaineer  sat  cross-legged 
upon  a  thick  cloak  spread  upon  the  boards.  It 
was  a  brilliantly  hot  afternoon  in  July,  and  the  sun 
would  have  been  unbearable  were  it  not  for  a  row 
of  poplar  trees  which  sheltered  us  from  the  heat 
without  obscuring  the  view,  and  so  I  and  my 
companion  sat  still  in  the  shade  and  watched  the 
thin  blue  rings  of  smoke  from  our  cigarettes 
floating  lazily  upwards  in  the  heavy  air.  We  did 
not  talk  very  much  ;  but  as  the  mountaineer  was 


IN   THE   ALBANIAN   MOUNTAINS     131 

an  intelligent  man  and  actually  spoke  Italian,  I 
gained  a  good  deal  of  information  from  him  at 
first  hand.  He  was  a  keen  politician  in  his  way, 
and  had  wonderful  odds  and  ends  of  knowledge 
stowed  away  in  his  brain  ;  but  his  little  world  was 
only  the  mountain  and  plain  of  North  Albania, 
and  his  idea  of  Europe  was  entirely  derived 
from  what  he  saw  of  the  Austrian  Lloyd  steamers 
at  the  port  of  Medua.  As  he  discoursed  upon  his 
fellow-countrymen,  the  Sultan,  JNIontenegro,  and 
the  Great  Powers — utterly  bewildered  by  matters 
which  are  to  a  European  the  simplest  things  in  the 
world — he  seemed  to  me  like  a  man  groping  in  the 
dark,  straining  his  eyes  to  pierce  the  gloom  that 
draws  so  impalpable  and  yet  so  dense  a  veil 
between  him  and  what  he  seeks.  And  somehow, 
on  that  dreamy  afternoon,  when  mountain,  plain 
and  lake  slept  under  the  July  sun,  I  found  myself 
half  slipping  into  his  mode  of  thought ;  and  as  I 
leaned  back  against  the  cottage  waU  and  looked 
with  half-shut  eyes  at  the  blue  haze  quivering  in 
the  valley  below,  my  Ufe  in  England  seemed  a 
thing  of  the  remote  past ;  I  seemed  to  have  always 
lived  in  Albania,  instead  of  only  a  few  years. 
Perhaps,  after  all,  the  Shkypetars  were  right  and 
the  European  sovereigns  were  only  chiefs  of 
Frankish  tribes,  who  took  advantage  of  the 
quarrels  among  the   Sultan's   subjects   to   further 


132  ALBANIA 

their  own  petty  aims.  All  other  countries  seemed 
vague  and  unreal,  and  only  the  politics  of  the 
rocks  and  lowlands  of  Albania  appeared  of  any 
consequence. 

Soon  I  was  roused  from  my  dream.  Of 
course  my  friend  knew  that  I  was  an  Inglese  ;  that 
all  the  Inglese  were  very  rich  ;  and  that,  as  they 
have  no  room  in  their  own  little  country,  they 
wandered  about  the  territories  of  the  other 
Prankish  tribes,  much  as  his  own  clan  of  Skreli 
was  forced  by  want  of  pasturage  to  migrate  every 
year  to  the  richer  land  by  the  coast  near  Medua  ; 
so,  to  increase  his  knowledge,  he  asked  me  as 
delicately  as  possible,  in  order  not  to  hurt  my 
feelings  by  the  comparison,  whether  London  was  as 
big  as  Scodra.  I  informed  him  that  in  my  country 
there  were  a  thousand  towns  bigger  than  Scodra, 
and  that  he  might  ride  for  three  or  four  hours 
in  a  straight  line  through  the  bazaars  and  streets 
of  London  without  getting  out  into  the  country. 
The  struggle  between  increduhty  and  politeness 
was  plainly  shown  on  the  mountaineer's  face  ;  and  I 
saw  that  I  had  lost  greatly  in  his  esteem  by  my 
assertion,  and  that  he  looked  upon  me — to  put  it 
plainly — as  a  liar.  He  knew  from  priests  and 
other  Franks  that  the  Inglese  have  no  country  but 
London,  a  miserable  place,  where  it  rains  all  the 
year  ;  and  where  no  one  would  stop  who  was  not 


IN   THE   ALBANIAN    MOUNTAINS     1X^ 

forced,  as  is  proved  by  all  the  Inglese  wlio  are  free 
to  move  wandering  into  other  Frankish  lands,  and 
even  into  the  realms  of  the  Sultan.  Nothing  would 
shake  his  opinion  ;  it  was  hopeless  to  fight  against 
that  wall  of  colossal  ignorance.  We  English  are 
too  given  to  thinking  that  all  foreigners  see  us  as 
we  see  ourselves ;  not  as  merely  the  inhabitants  of 
two  little  islands  in  the  northern  sea,  but  as  the 
masters  of  an  empire  that  rings  the  circle  of  the 
world  and  floats  its  navies  upon  every  sea.  The 
more  ignorant  foreigners,  who  draw  their  informa- 
tion from  priests  or  demagogic  newspapers,  look  on 
England  as  a  foggy  island  peopled  by  uncouth 
heretics,  who  are  only  tolerated  because  they  fling 
gold  broadcast  in  every  direction.  My  Skreli 
friend  had  no  doubt  derived  his  geographical  and 
historical  knowledge  from  some  French  or  Russian 
source,  and  therefore  despised  me  as  an  untruthful 
braggart,  though  he  was  too  polite  and  perhaps  too 
politic  to  say  so. 

I  had  gone  up  into  the  mountains  for  a  few 
days,  to  see  village  life  and  to  get  a  breath  of 
fresh  air,  for  the  lowlands  and  the  city  were 
stifling.  Not  a  drop  of  rain  had  fallen  for  two 
months ;  the  grass  had  become  sand,  and  the 
plants  were  drooping  in  the  gardens  for  want  of 
water.  The  little  village  of  Zagora,  in  which  I 
was  spending  a  day  or  two,  lies  at  the  head  of  the 


134  ALBANIA 

long,  wedge-shaped  piece  of  stony  land,  running  up 
from    the   lake   and   shut   in    by   bare   and   lofty 
mountains,  which  constitutes  the  territory  of  the 
Skreli  tribe.      Down  the  centre  of  this  valley,  and 
at  the  bottom  of  a  steep  ravine,  runs  the  river 
which  waters  the  arable  land.     A  narrow  strip  of 
ground   on   each   bank   is   cultivated,    forming    a 
winding  ribbon   of    dingy   and    sun-burnt    green 
between   the  bordering  expanses  of  white  stones 
and    parched    rocks.        But     the     tribe    has    its 
winter    pasturage     near     Medua  ;     and     towards 
autumn  the  whole   of  Skreli,    men,   women,  and 
children,     with    their     flocks     and     their     herds, 
their    horses    and   their   household   goods,   desert 
their  mountain   home  and  file  in  long  procession 
across   the    stony    plain,    through   the   bazaar   of 
Scodra,    and    so,    by   way    of    the    Zadrima,   to 
IMedua.     My  companion,  finding  1  could  not  be 
trusted  to  tell  him  of  my  own  country,  changed 
the  subject  to  himself  and  his  belongings,  which 
were  for   me  more  interesting   topics   than   com- 
parisons between  London  and  Scodra.     And  so  I 
learned  that  in  summer-time  he  was  a  farmer  in 
the   mountains,  and   in  winter  a  boatman  at   the 
wretched    seaport    of    San   Giovanni    di   Medua, 
where  he   had   learned   a   fair   amount  of  Italian 
while  bringing  passengers   and   their   baggage   to 
shore.       In    this    fashion    he    managed    to    earn 


THE    ROAD    TO    SCODRA. 

Malissori  fisliermeii  near  the  Lake. 


TUK    UOAU    TO    SCODRA. 

^lalissori  fanners  going  to  the  Bazaar. 


IN   THE   ALBANIAN    MOUNTAINS     135 

enough   money  to   make   him   a    Httle   bit    of  a 
mountain  dandy,  and  to  enable  him  to  carry  better 
arms  than  the  mountaineers  of  the  neighbouring 
tribes  who  spend  all  the  year  round  in  their  rocky 
homes.     He  informed  me  that  he  was  very  well 
known   at   the  -port,  and  got  plenty  to  do  ;    and 
then,  being  in  confidential  mood,  told  me  about  his 
family  and  his  children,  and  that  he  had  a  blood- 
feud   with   one  of  the  most  powerful   families  of 
the  neighbouring  Hotti  tribe,  and  so  never  went 
out  of  the  village  alone,  for  fear  he  should  be  shot 
for  the  blood  he  owed  his  enemies.     His  sister,  he 
explained,  married  a  man   of  Hotti,  and  it   was 
considered  a  splendid  match,  as  that  tribe  is  the 
most  powerful  in  the  Great  Mountains,  and  takes 
the  post  of  honour  in  time  of  war.      About  a  year 
after   the   marriage,   the   husband   repudiated   his 
bride,  and  sent  her  home,  giving  no  reason  for  the 
outrage,  but  merely  saying  that  he  was  not  going 
to  keep  the  woman  any  longer.     Such  an  insult 
was   not  to   be   tolerated ;    so   my   host   and   his 
brother,    seeing    that    there    was    no    chance    of 
obtaining   for   their  sister   the   restitution   of  her 
rights,  >oked  out  for  an   opportunity   of  killing 
their  brother-in-law. 

"  He  was  very  cunning,"  said  my  host 
reflectively,  playing  with  his  pistol  ;  *'  but  I 
waited  for  him  every  day,  and  at  last  I  caught 


136  ALBANIA 

him  alone,  and  then  I  shot  him  for  the  shght  he 
had  dared  to  put  on  our  family." 

"  And  so  you  owe  them  blood  ? " 

He  grinned,  and  arranged  his  pistols  in  his 
leather  slla.  "His  father  and  brothers,"  he 
replied,  "  often  come  into  our  country  to  look  for 
me,  and  wait  for  me  outside  the  bazaar  or  on  the 
road  to  Scodra ;  but  I  never  go  into  the  city 
without  my  brother  and  my  relations  ;  so  they 
cannot  exact  the  penalty  without  fighting  a 
battle." 

"But  surely  that  must  be  a  great  nuisance  for 
you  ? " 

He  shrugged  his  shoulders :  "  Some  day  they 
will  catch  me  alone,  as  I  caught  him,  and  then 
they  will  shoot  me  if  they  can." 

"And  your  sister  ?  " 

"  She  is  in  the  city." 

"  Has  she  married  again  ?  " 

"Married?     Oh  no!     She  begs:  she   has  her 

child "     Then,  seeing  my  look  of  astonishment, 

he  added:  "What  is  she  to  do?  We  cannot 
support  her  ;  she  does  not  belong  to  us  now  ;  and 
the  Hotti  will  not  keep  her.  But  I  have  avenged 
the  insult ;  I  have  shot  her  husband." 

Truly,  honour  and  dishonour  are  arbitrary 
words  !  My  companion  was,  according  to  his  own 
code,  a  man  of  strict  honour.      His  sister  had  been 


IN   THE   ALBANIAN    MOUNTAINS     137 

repudiated  by  her  liusbiind  without  cause  or 
reason;  and  lie  felt  that  he  had  done  everything 
he  could  be  expected  to  do  when  he  had  shot  the 
erring  husband  and  left  the  poor  woman  to  escape 
starvation  as  best  she  might  by  begging  in  the 
streets  of  Scodra  a  bare  subsistence  for  herself  and 
child ! 

But  the  sun  had  been  gradually  sinking 
towards  JNIount  Rumia,  and  once  he  was  below  the 
hills  everything  would  be  dark.  The  women,  with 
little  kegs  strapped  on  their  shoulders,  came  out  of 
the  cottages  and  struck  across  the  fields.  "  They 
are  going  to  draw  water  from  the  river," 
explained  my  companion  ;  "  shall  we  go  to  see 
them?"  He  carefully  looked  to  his  arms,  and 
then  we  rose  and,  joining  two  or  three  other  men, 
strolled  through  the  maize  and  tobacco  fields, 
between  the  wait-a-bit  thorn  hedges,  to  the  ravine. 
During  the  violent  rains  of  autumn  and  winter, 
the  Prolitar,  as  the  river  is  called,  dashes  a 
foaming  torrent  along  its  rocky  bed ;  but  at  the 
end  of  the  summer  it  had  become  like  most 
mountain  streams,  a  quiet  little  river,  half  lost 
among  the  pebbles  it  flows  over.  In  Indian  file 
we  descended  the  narrow  path  that  winds  through 
the  brushwood  edging  the  steep  sides  of  the 
ravine,  and  1  should  have  been  put  to  shame  by 
the    activity   and    sure-footedness   of    the   young 


138  ALBANIA 

girls,  were  it  not  that  I  knew  they  would  make  a 
much  worse  scramble  of  it  than  I  did  had  they 
boots  on  their  feet  instead  of  raw-hide  sandals. 
Soon  we  got  to  the  bottom,  and  then  we  seemed 
to  be  in  an  amphitheatre,  for,  owing  to  the  abrupt 
turns  and  winds  of  the  river,  we  were  shut  in  on 
all  sides  by  almost  perpendicular  walls  of  rock. 
The  floor  of  the  ravine  was  covered  with  sand  and 
pebbles,  and  down  the  centre  trickled  the 
dwindling  stream,  across  which  we  easily  jumped. 
The  narrow  space  was  crowded  with  ^the  in- 
habitants of  all  the  Skreli  villages,  whose  only 
water-supply  in  summer  is  drawn  from  the  curious 
well  in  that  part  of  the  river's  bed.  The  men 
lounged  about  conversing  in  groups,  and  every 
now  and  then  a  marksman  fired  his  pistol  at  a  stone 
or  bush  on  the  side  of  the  cliff  with  a  bang  that 
startled  the  echoes  from  crag  to  crag,  and  made 
one  fancy,  from  the  violence  of  the  concussion, 
that  a  hundred-ton  gun  at  least  had  been 
discharged. 

Under  an  overhanging  rock,  a  quaint  parapet 
and  basin  have  been  carved  out  of  the  living  stone, 
and  round  them  the  maids  and  matrons  were 
gathered  in  picturesque  groups,  laughing  and 
chattering.  It  was  the  mouth  of  a  well  that  sinks 
deep  down  beneath  the  bed  of  the  river,  and  is 
never  dry  in  summer.     When  the  rains  come  and 


IN   THE  ALBANIAN   MOUNTAINS     130 

send  the  torrent  from  the  mountains,  the  well  and 
its  curious  basin  are  covered  deeply  by  the  tossing 
waters ;  but  when  the  hot  weather  returns  and  the 
river  runs  nearly  dry,  the  well  is  uncovered  again, 
and    the    buckets    and    long    ropes    are    eagerly 
competed   for  by   the  crowd  of  women,  who  fill 
their   little   wooden   kegs    every   day  just   before 
sunset.     Only  one  man  came  down  to  draw  water, 
an  old  white-headed  man,  who  was  bent  now  and 
infirm,  but  who  had  evidently  been  a  magnificent 
broad-shouldered  giant  of  over  six  feet  in  height.    I 
asked  why  he  was  drawing  water  for  himself.  "  Oh  ! " 
was  the  reply,  "  he  has  no  women  or  relations  ;  he 
lives  by  himself;  besides,  he  is  quite  crazy."     Poor 
old  man  !     He  was  the  last  of  his  family  ;  his  wife 
and   daughters    were    dead ;     and    his    sons    had 
succumbed  to  steel,  bullet,  or  fever,  leaving  him 
alone  in  his  old  age.     The  border  wars,  blood-feuds 
and  malaria  of  the  lowlands,  that  had  taken  away 
his  brothers  and  sons,  had  passed  him  by,  and  left 
him  an  infirm  veteran,  no  longer  a  great  warrior, 
but  a  useless  survival  of  the  past.     He  spoke  to  no 
one,  but  having  filled  his  keg,  shouldered  it,  and 
toiled  slowly  and  alone  up  the  steep  path. 

The  shadows  deepened  among  the  cliffs;  the 
last  woman  filled  her  barrel  and  staggered  panting 
up  the  rocky  ascent;  and  so  we  returned  home 
too,  my  Malsior  friend  keeping  his   hand   on  his 


140  ALBANIA 

pistols  and  glancing  suspiciously  at  every  bush,  for 
perhaps  some  Hotti  avenger  might  be  lurking  in 
the  deep  shadows  and  even  now  levelling  a  pistol 
or  rifle.     Luckily,  there  was  no  enemy  near,  and 
we  reached  the  village  in  safety,  or  rather  the  row 
of  six  tiny  houses  which  was  the  principal  part  of 
the   hamlet.      Most   mountain   cottages   are  built 
detached  from  one  another,  and  consist  simply  of  a 
single  room  on  the  bare  ground,  with  perhaps  a 
small  apartment  screened  off  for  the  mistress  of  the 
house  ;  but  here  were  half  a  dozen  cottages  built 
all  in  a  row  hke  modern  villas,  and  only  inhabited 
on  the  first  floor,  after  the  fashion  of  the  houses  in 
Scodra.      Each  1  house  in  the  row  had   its   ladder 
leading  up  to  its  first  floor,  and  its  little  balcony 
with   the   living-room   opening  out  of  it.     In  no 
other  mountain  village  have  I  seen  this  arrange- 
ment, which  was  evidently  an  innovation  on  the 
received  architecture  of  the  Malissori,  and  was  no 
doubt  to  be  ascribed  to  the  tribe's  yearly  residence 
on  the  sea-coast. 

The  usual  mountaineer's  supper  was  soon 
prepared — roast  mutton  and  cakes  drenched  in 
honey,  and  then,  after  coffee  and  more  cigarettes,  I 
thought  of  going  to  rest,  for  it  had  been  a  long  day 
since  I  roused  my  little  household  in  Scodra  at 
about  two  hours  after  midnight,  before  the  sun  had 
begun  to  rise.     I   had  no   fancy  for   sharing  the 


IN    THE   ALBANIAN    MOUNTAINS     Itl 

stuffy  little  inner  room  with  the  grandmother,  the 
mother,  the  wife,  and  the  children  of  my  host,  not 
to  mention  other  less  visible  occupants,  nor  a  plank 
bed  on  the  balcony  with  a  couple  of  mountaineers  ; 
and  that  was  why  1  brought  the  little  tent  that 
gleamed  white  in  the  moonlight  through  the 
shrubs  among  which  it  was  pitched.  My  hostess 
and  her  sister  had  cut  me  plenty  of  soft  fern  in  the 
afternoon  and  spread  it  on  the  floor  of  my  tent ; 
and  so,  after  wishing  my  Albanian  friends  "  Good- 
night," I  retired  to  my  own  lodgings.  As  I 
stumbled  through  the  thicket  by  the  imperfect 
light,  my  footsteps  roused  the  watchdogs,  which 
strained  fiercely  at  their  chains  and  made  the  valley 
ring  with  their  savage  barking.  From  the  distance 
came  an  answering  chorus  of  yelps,  marking  the 
position  of  neighbouring  villages  in  the  darkness  of 
the  night.  The  moon,  already  low  down  in  the 
sky,  cast  long  shadows  across  the  land,  and  almost 
obscured  the  glitter  of  the  stars,  and  dimmed  the 
brilhance  of  the  comet  that  was  blazing  away 
across  the  heavens  |  above  the  row  of  tall  poplar 
trees  outside  the  village.  Creeping  head  first  into 
my  narrow  tent,  I  wrapped  myself  in  a  rug, 
stretching  full  length  upon  the  fern,  the  softest 
couch  a  man  can  have ;  and  soon  the  baying  of  the 
watchdogs  wove  itself,  an  indistinct  bass,  into  the 
current  of  my  dreams. 


XII 


A    NIGHT   IN   RAMAZAN 


A  YEAR  had  passed  since  I  entered  Scodra  for  the 
first  time  to  the  roar  of  the  guns  of  the  ancient 
Castle  announcing  the  passing  of  Ramazan,  and 
the  month  of  fasting  had  come  round  again.  It 
had  been  a  terribly  hot  day.  All  day  long,  heavy 
black  clouds  had  rolled  up  from  the  Adriatic  and 
circled  round  the  mountains  that  shut  in  plain  and 
lake  ;  but  not  a  drop  of  rain  had  fallen  upon  the 
parched  and  dried-up  soil.  The  growling  of  the 
thunder  had  been  incessant,  though  not  a  breath  of 
air  had  stirred  the  heavy  leaves,  or  freshened  the 
close,  unwholesome  atmosphere  that  scorched  throat 
and  lungs,  and  seemed  to  weigh  oppressively  upon 
one's  very  limbs. 

But  evening  came  at  last,  and  the  good  folk  of 
Scodra  trudged  slowly  homeward  from  the  bazaar. 
In  the  high-road  facing  the  burial-ground  in  which 
Ali  Haidaar  Pasha  lies  buried,  a  knot  of  Moham- 
medans in  gold-embroidered  jackets  and  voluminous 


A   NIGHT    IN   RAMAZAN  143 

fustanellefi  were   standing  just   outside   the  great 

double  gates  leading  to  the  courtyard  of  one  of  the 

richest  aghas  in  the  city.     They  were  watching  for 

the  evening  gun  from  the  citadel,  which  would  tell 

them  that  their  weary  fast  was  over  for  the  day, 

and  that  they  might  go  in  to  the  evening  meal. 

From  sunrise  to  sunset  not  a  morsel  of  food,  not  a 

single  cup  of  coffee,  had  touched  their  lips ;  they 

had  passed  the  long  hot  hours  of  a  sultry  summer 

day   without   even   drinking   a   drop   of  water  or 

smoking  a  single  cigarette.     Some   of  them   had 

had  to  work  during  the  day,  and  some  had  tried  to 

sleep  away  the  laggard  hours  in  the  stifling  rooms 

of  the  harevu  and  it  was  small  wonder  if,  faint  and 

exhausted,  they  looked  with  angry  eyes  upon  the 

Christian  shopkeepers  and  labourers  who  plodded 

along  the  dusty  road,  puffing  at  their  cigarettes. 

We  were  in  the  last  quarter  of  the  moon,  for  it 

was  more  than  three  weeks  ago  that  the  great  fast 

of  Ramazan  began,  and  the  strain  was  beginning  to 

tell   even   upon   the  strongest  men,  and  to  show 

itself  in  their  haggard  looks  and   hollow   cheeks. 

But  at  last  the  sixteen  sultry  hours  of  fasting  were 

coming  to  a  close.    The  city  already  lay  in  shadow, 

for   the   sun   had   sunk  behind   Mount  Tarabosh, 

though  the  castle  rock  and  the  citadel  itself  were 

still  in  full  sunlight. 

Gradually  the  shadows  crept  up  the  hill   and 


144  ALBANIA 

quenched  tlie  blaze  of  light  in  which  the  parapets 
were  bathed,  and  then  the  eyes  of  the  watchers 
were  gladdened  by  the  dull  red  flash,  followed  by  a 
ball  of  smoke  that  shot  out  between  the  parapets 
from  one  of  the  old  iron  guns  that  kept  the  key  of 
North  Albania  before  the  modern  fort  on  Mount 
Tarabosh  was  built.  At  the  same  moment  the 
wailing  cry  of  half  a  dozen  muezzins  rang  out  from 
the  mosques  close  by,  and  with  a  sigh  of  relief  the 
expectant  group  turned  and  trooped,  with  swaying 
jmtanelles  and  a  jauntier  air,  through  the  great 
gates,  to  break  its  long  fast  at  the  evening  meal, 
which  a  great  clattering  among  the  women-kind 
showed  to  be  nearly  ready. 

This  great  fast  is  held  in  memory  of  the 
Hegira ;  but  though  all  good  Mohammedans 
religiously  fast  during  the  day,  yet  they  are  allowed 
to  feast  during  the  night-hours  between  sunset  and 
sunrise.  Very  often  friends  and  relations  come  to 
these  evening  festivities,  and  sometimes  strangers 
are  invited.  During  the  past  week  we  had  twice 
been  to  entertainments  at  Mohammedan  houses 
after  nightfall,  and  that  night  we  were  going  again 
with  an  English  friend  who  was  spending  a  week 
or  two  in  Scodra,  and  was  naturally  anxious  to  see 
all  that  he  could  of  native  life.  Luckily  we  had 
not  been  invited  to  the  tedious  dinner  or  supper, 
but  only  to  the  "  musical  at  home  "  which  was  to 


A    NIGHT    IN    RAMAZAN  14^5 

be  held  afterwards  ;  and  so,  as  we  had  a  httle  time 
to  spare,  we  entered  a  cate  to  see  how  the  evening 
was  passing  there.  We  sat  down  on  a  bench 
against  the  wall,  in  front  of  a  bare  wooden  table, 
and  called  for  coffee.  Our  entry  caused  some  little 
sensation,  for  I  was  well  known ;  and  the  sight  of 
two  Franks  in  a  poor  native  cafe  was  something 
out  of  the  common.  However,  our  enterprise  was 
not  rewarded,  for  the  place  was  deplorably  dull ; 
two  or  three  groups  of  poorer  Albanians  sitting 
gloomily  over  their  coffee  were  the  only  repre- 
sentatives of  the  merry  company  we  had  hoped  to 
see  ;  while  in  the  centre  of  the  room  two  Moham- 
medans were  having  their  heads  shaved  by  the 
silent  proprietor  of  the  combined  khan  and  barber's 
shop  and  his  assistant.  My  friend  was  in  high 
spirits  when  we  entered  ;  but  a  few  minutes  of  this 
funereal  gloom  effectually  took  all  the  fun  out  of 
him,  and  so  we  hastily  swallowed  our  coffee,  and 
left  the  melancholy  "  khanji "  still  scraping  away  at 
his  customer's  forehead. 

The  beginning  of  the  evening  had  not  been 
promising,  but  I  consoled  my  visitor  with  the 
assurance  that  at  Fiscta  Agha's  house  things  would 
be  very  different.  We  therefore  made  a  fresh 
start,  accompanied  by  Marco,  a  Christian  of  the 
town  who,  on  the  strength  of  being  able  to  say 
"  Yes,  sir,"  and  "  Oui,  monsieur,"  in  addition  to  the 

L 


146  ALBANIA 

broken  Italian  common  to  his  kind,  passed  for  a 
skilled  linoruist,  and  looked  upon  aU  travellers  as 
his  lawful  prey.  He  preceded  us.  dressed  in  foU 
mountaiueer  costume,  over  which  he  wore  a  shabby 
old  ulster  several  sizes  too  small  for  him,  put  on  as 
a  precaution  against  the  fever  that  he  insisted  was 
lurking  in  the  sultry  night-air.  In  his  right  hand 
he  carried  a  tightly-rolled,  lady's  umbrella  of  green 
silk,  a  gift  from  his  last  master ;  and  in  his  left  he 
swung  a  lantern,  to  guide  us  through  the  narrow 
streets  of  the  Alussulman  quarter.  On  our  way 
we  passed  three  Zingari  who  were  playing  softly 
the  air  of  Hadji  Ah :  and  then  passing  out  of  the 
narrow  street  into  an  open  space,  we  came  to  the 
great  double  gates  of  Fiscta  Agha's  house.  After 
the  usual  challenges,  one  wing  of  the  gate  swung 
open,  and  we  entered  the  courtyard,  betog  rather 
taken  aback  by  what  seemed  to  be  the  ghost  of  a 
huge  white  bird  stretched  across  the  yard  It  was, 
however,  only  the  aghas  best  fustanelU  which  he 
had  had  washed  in  view  of  the  coming  Feast  of 
Bairam,  and  had  hung  across  the  courtyard  to  dry. 
As  the  fustaneUe  was  thirty  or  forty  yards  long 
round  the  hem,  it  was  not  surprising  that  it  seemed 
to  stretch  through  the  darkness  hke  the  white 
wings  of  some  giant  bird,  to  eyes  not  accustomed 
to  such  amphtude  of  petticoat. 

By  the  hght  from  an  open  door  we  made  for 


A   XIGHT    IX    RAMAZAN  147 

the  wooden  staircase  that  led  to  the  balcony  on 
the  first  floor,  where  Fiscta  Agha  greeted  us,  and 
escorted  us  to  the  room  in  which  the  merrj-making 
was  going  on.     The  place  was  crowded  ;  but  by 
dint  of  pushing  and  elbo^ving,  the  agha  piloted  us 
across  the  floor  to  the  seat  of  honour  on  the  divan 
by  his  side.     Instantly  an  attendant  gave  us  each  a 
brass  ashpan.  another  offered  us  cigarettes  with  his 
hand  on  his  heart,  a  third  brought  us  coffee,  and  a 
fourth  sweetmeats.     We  were  bound  by  etiquette 
to  refuse  nothing,  and  the  coffee  and  cigarettes  we 
enjoyed :  but  the  sugar  plums  we  sHpped  into  our 
pocket-handkerchiefs  at  the  first  convenient  oppor- 
tunity.     After   we   had   exchanged   compliments 
^^'ith  our  host  and  our  friends  and  acquaintances, 
the  music,   which   our   entrance   had  interrupted, 
struck   up   again.     The  musicians   were   three  in 
number,  and  squatted  on  the  floor  at  the  opposite 
end   of  the   room.      The    leader   played    on    the 
"  guzla."   a  kind  of  mandoHne.  across  whose  two 
vdre    strings    he    tinkled    liis    Httle    cherry-bark 
"  plectrum  "  with  a  grave  and  dignified  air.     By  his 
side  was  an  old   man.  ^\'ith  huge   horn   spectacles 
balanced  on  his   hooked  nose,  who  held  a  fiddle 
upon  the  floor  at  arm's  length,  and  scraped  away 
solemnly  with  a  clumsy  bow  on  the  strings  that 
were  turned  away  from  him.     The  third  musician 
was  a  pale  and  melancholy  youth,  who  banged  a 


148  ALBANIA 

tambourine  upon  his  knuckles,  knees,  and  elbows, 
with  mournful  repetition,  going  through  all  his 
movements  as  if  he  were  moved  by  clockwork. 
Of  course  they  played  "  Hadji  Ali,  the  Pirate  of 
Dulcigno,"  as  surely  as  the  street-boy  at  home 
wliistles  the  latest  comic  song ;  for  Hadji  Ali 
was  an  Albanian  hero,  and  the  Mussulmans  of 
Scodra  were  in  heroic  mood  just  then.  It  was  a 
weird  and  plaintive  melody  in  the  minor  key, 
necessitated  by  the  setting  of  the  two  wire  strings 
of  the  guzla,  and,  though  it  sounded  like  a  dirge 
pure  and  simple,  was  played  in  Scodra  at  feasts 
and  festivals  of  every  kind.  Occasionally,  the 
tambourine  broke  into  a  long-drawn  howl,  drawling 
Hadji  All's  name  through  his  nose,  in  a  fashion 
that  reminded  us  of  a  dog  baying  the  moon. 
There  are  fifty  or  sixty  verses  of  "  Hadji  Ali,"  and 
though  the  tambourine's  effort  was  the  only 
attempt  at  singing,  the  musicians  took  us  religiously 
through  the  air  over  and  over  again  till  the  full 
number  of  verses  was  accomplished.  It  seemed 
never  ending  ;  but  at  last,  just  as  we  were  falling 
asleep,  the  wailing  tune  faded  softly  away,  and 
the  Hadji  might  be  considered  as  disposed  of  for 
the  night. 

More  coffee,  more  sweatmeats,  and  more 
cigarettes  were  pressed  upon  us,  and  then  some 
of  the  servants  began  to  clear  a  space  in  the  centre 


A   NIGHT    IN    RAMAZAN  U9 

of  the  room  by  pushing  the  people  into  the  corners 
and  making  them  stand  close  round  the  walls. 
Presently  a  hungry-looking  young  fellow,  dressed 
simply  in  a  loose  cotton  shirt  and  trousers,  began 
walking  round  in  a  circle,  keeping  time  to  the 
rhythm  of  the  three  musicians,  who  had  struck  up 
another  plaintive  air.  He  walked  round  and  round, 
waving  his  hands  and  balancing  himself  first  on 
one  foot  and  then  on  the  other,  but  doing  nothing 
else,  while  we  sat  anxiously,  wondering  when  he 
was  going  to  begin.  INIy  English  friend  soon  had 
enough  of  that  sort  of  thing,  and  whispered  to  me 
to  lend  !him  my  scarf-pin.  He  then  opened  his 
pocket-knife,  and  waited  resignedly  for  the  dance 
to  end.  As  soon  as  he  got  his  opportunity,  he 
made  signs  to  Fiscta  Agha  that  he  was  going  to 
perform  something ;  and  wrapping  his  handker- 
chief tightly  round  his  thumb,  he  pricked  his  skin 
surreptitiously  and  squeezed  out  a  drop  of  blood. 
Then  with  his  knife  he  went  through  the  panto- 
mime of  cutting  off  his  thumb  by  smearing  the 
blood  in  a  thin  line  round  beneath  the  nail. 
The  Albanians  crowded  round,  looking  on  him  as 
an  escaped  lunatic,  when  suddenly  with  a  rapid 
lick  of  his  tongue  and  a  dab  of  his  handkerchief  he 
made  the  long  gash  disappear,  and  completely 
healed  what  looked  like  a  very  serious  wound. 
This  feat  aroused  every  one's  curiosity ;  we  were 


150  ALBANIA 

nearly  stifled  by  the  pressure  of  the  onlookers,  and 
my  friend  had  to  do  his  trick  over  and  over  again 
until  his  thumb  was  as  full  of  holes  as  a  sieve,  and 
he  bitterly  repented  his  desire  for  fame.  Luckily 
for  him,  a  counter  attraction  drew  the  public 
attention  from  him,  and  a  scolding  voice  made 
every  one  turn  to  look  at  the  other  side  of  the 
room,  where  three  small  boys  had  profited  by  the 
general  crowding  round  our  divan  to  take  a  yataghan 
from  the  wall  and  to  set  to  work  at  carving  their 
thumbs  and  fingers  in  imitation  of  the  marvellous 
Frank.  Happily,  before  much  harm  was  done, 
the  yataghan  was  taken  away  and  the  boys  soundly 
cuffed ;  and  I  quietly  restored  the  pin  to  my  scarf 
in  the  general  confusion. 

After  more  coffee,  came  the  great  dance  of  the 
evening,  and  again  the  gaunt  youth  pirouetted 
round  the  ring.  That  time,  however,  something 
more  striking  was  to  be  performed,  and  so  one  of 
the  beys  lent  him  his  white  fustanelle  ;  another  a 
gold-embroidered  jacket  and  waistcoat  of  crimson 
cloth  ;  a  third,  his  gaiters,  ornamented  in  similar 
fashion  ;  and  a  fourth  unwound  the  long  silk  sash 
from  his  waist  and  threw  it  to  the  dancer.  Again 
the  slow  rhythmic  walk  began  to  the  melancholy 
music  of  the  guzla ;  but  after  a  few  circles  the 
dancer  stopped  once  more.  Fiscta  Agha  and 
Ibrahim  Bey  Castrati  then  drew  their  keen,  blue 


A   NIGHT   IN   RAMAZAN  151 

Damascus  blades,  inlaid  with  verses  of  the  Koran 
in  gold,  from  their  scabbards,  and  handed  them  to 
the  silent  dancer,  who  received  them  solemnly, 
and  once  more  retired  to  the  centre  of  the  ring. 
Taking  the  yataghans  by  their  hilts,  he  stretched 
out  his  arms,  placed  the  sharp  points  hi  his  girdle, 
and  resumed  his  walk  round  the  room.  After  a 
few  circles,  the  music  quickened,  and  the  dancer 
broke  into  a  polka-mazurka  step,  with  the  blades 
still  sticking  into  his  girdle.  Again  the  music  got 
faster ;  the  colour  rose  to  the  dancer's  face ;  he 
raised  the  points  of  the  yataghans  and  placed  them 
beneath  his  armpits,  and  every  few  paces  bumped 
the  floor  first  with  one  knee  and  then  with  the 
other.  Faster  and  faster  grew  the  music,  wilder 
and  wilder  grew  the  dancer,  dashing  himself  on 
the  floor  with  ever-increasing  energy,  with  arms 
still  outstretched  and  points  turned  inwards  ;  till 
at  last  he  burst  into  a  frantic  valse  in  the  middle 
of  the  room,  and  spun  round,  a  confused  mass  of 
white  fustanelle  and  gold  and  scarlet  coat,  with 
bright  steel-blue  blades  gleaming  beneath  his  ex- 
tended arms.  Suddenly  both  music  and  dancer 
stopped,  and  hurriedly  returning  the  yataghans 
to  their  owners,  the  performer  plunged  into 
the  crowd  of  onlookers,  and  disappeared  to 
take  off  his  borrowed  finery.  No  one  troubled 
to    applaud ;    it    was   the   dancer's    business ;    he 


152  ALBANIA 

was    paid   for   it,   and    had   done   his    duty,  that 
was  all. 

By  that  time  it  was  considerably  past  mid- 
night, and  so  some  one  was  sent  to  rouse  Marco 
from  the  slumber  into  which  much  coffee  and 
unlimited  cigarettes  had  plunged  him.  As  for 
ourselves,  we  each  drained  at  a  gulp,  before  leaving, 
a  tumbler  of  the  sweet  pink  sherbet  that  the 
Albanians  love,  for  our  throats  felt  like  lime-kilns 
from  'excessive  smoking.  I  had  the  curiosity  to 
count  the  cigarette  ends  in  my  ashpan ;  there  were 
seventeen,  and  though  the  tobacco  was  good,  yet 
the  paper  was  very  coarse  and  hot.  Our  rising 
was  the  signal  for  the  general  break-up  of  the 
entertainment.  Fiscta  Agha  saw  us  to  the  great 
gates ;  and,  as  we  followed  the  sleepy  Marco  and 
his  lantern  over  the  cobble-stones  that  paved 
the  road,  the  mournful  melody  of  "  Hadji  Ali " 
moaned  through  the  warm  still  air  from  the  side- 
street  down  which  the  three  musicians  were 
solemnly  making  their  homeward  way. 


XIII 


AN   ALBANIAN   WEDDING 


It  is  always  a  trying  circumstance  for  the  master 
of  the  house  to  have  a  wedding  in  his  family,  and, 
serious  as  the  matter  is  in  England,  it  was  infinitely 
worse  in  North  Albania,  where  a  peculiar  and 
tedious  etiquette  prescribed  endless  ceremonies, 
and  allowed  no  wished-for  "  going  away,"  to  put  a 
period  to  the  sufferings  of  bridegroom  and  guests. 
However,  as  I  was  the  Konsolos  Vakeel,  and  the 
happy  man  was  my  servant  on  the  only  occasion 
when  there  was  a  wedding  "  in  the  family,"  I  had 
the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  if  I  looked  as  bored 
as  a  Pasha,  I  was  only  shedding  a  gTcater  dignity 
on  the  proceedings.  Besides,  I  was  very  glad  to 
be  able  to  penetrate  for  once  behind  the  veil  of 
mystery  that  shrouds  the  interior  of  Albanian 
houses,  and  to  see  the  strange  ceremonies  of 
marriage  as  an  honoured  guest. 

Achmet,  my  Turkish  servant,  having  a  claim 
on  the  Government,  had  just  been  made  Inspector 
of  Forests  in  Mid- Albania,  and  a  week  or  two  ago 


154  ALBANIA 

had  ridden  off,  followed  by  a  mountaineer  leading 
a  pack-horse  laden  with  the  new  official's  belong- 
ings. No  doubt  he  has  long  since  repaid  himself 
all  that  the  Government  ever  owed  him,  and, 
having  learned  wisdom  in  adversity,  will  take  good 
care  never  to  be  reduced  to  waiting  on  a  Frank 
again. 

To  replace  Achmet  I  took  a  tall,  well-made 
Albanian,  with  a  fierce  moustache  and  gentle 
manner,  who  spoke  Italian  well,  and  had  the 
reputation  of  being  honest  and  trustworthy.  He 
soon  got  into  my  ways,  but  remained  unaccount- 
ably shy  and  preoccupied.  One  morning  Simon, 
the  cook,  explained  the  mystery.  "  That  man 
Luka,"  he  said,  speaking  of  his  fellow-servant  as 
if  he  were  miles  off*,  instead  of  in  the  kitchen, 
"  begs  your  Excellency's  pardon,  but  he  wishes  to 
be  married."  I  was  not  an  excellency,  and  never 
shall  be  anything  so  exalted,  but  we  got  brevet 
rank  in  Scodra  ;  for  all  that,  I  remarked  that  I  was 
very  pleased  to  hear  it,  and  then  Simon,  cautiously 
shutting  the  door,  and  standing,  fez  in  hand, 
eagerly  entered  into  the  subject,  drawing  upon  a 
fertile  imagination  for  the  details. 

In  Albania  it  is  etiquette  for  a  man  about  to 
marry  to  be  very  much  ashamed  of  himself  and 
not  to  mention  the  subject  at  all,  but  to  leave 
everything  to  the  old  women  of  his  family,  who 


AN    ALBANIAN   WEDDING         155 

take  a  professional  delight  in  seeing  that  every  cere- 
mony and  superstition  is  rigidly  adhered  to.    Luka 
himself  knew  that  Europeans  are,  as  a  rule,  not 
ashamed  of  their  wives,  but  will  even  be  seen  with 
them  in  public,  and  let  them  speak  to  other  men. 
He    felt  that  he  had  a  sort   of    connection  with 
Europe,  being  my  servant,  and  as  I  was  naturally 
obhged  to  outrage  his  modesty,  so  far  as  to  mention 
the  subject  in  discussing  the  future  arrangements  of 
my  household,  the  struggle  which  went  on  in  his 
mind  as  he  attempted  to  engraft  the  brazen-faced 
publicity    of    the    European    upon    the     bashful 
reticence    of  the   Albanian,    rendered   his    face   a 
study  to    be   remembered.     One   morning,   about 
three  weeks    after   his    entering   my    service,    he 
placed  a  note  on  the  table  just  as  I  was  beginning 
breakfast,  and  hurried  out  of  the  room.     It  was  an 
invitation,     written,    as    I    afterwards  discovered, 
at  Luka's  dictation,  by  a  Dalmatian  innkeeper  who 
lived  near,  begging  me  to  do  him  the  great  honour 
of  being  present  at  his  "nuptials,  that  is  to  say, 
marriage,"  on  the   following   Sunday.      I   replied 
that  I  should  be  very  pleased  to  be  there,  whereupon 
Luka  blushed  deeply,  and  thanked  me  profoundly. 
There  was  no  doubt  about  it.     JMy   servant   was 
irrevocably  pledged  to  matrimony  with  a  girl   he 
had   never    seen,    upon    the  magnificent   income 
represented   by  the  wages  he  received  from  me ; 


156  ALBANIA 

and  there  could  be  no  drawing  back,  for  breach  of 
promise  is  punished  by  a  pistol  bullet  in  Albania. 

Luka  belonged  to  one  of  the  few  families  in 
Scodra  that  profess  the  Orthodox  faith,  and  so 
about  ten  o'clock  on  Sunday  morning,  M. 
Ladislas,  a  Hungarian  friend,  and  I  went  to  the 
little  church  in  which  the  ceremony  was  to  take 
place.  It  was  the  church  in  which  the  marriage  of 
the  consul  to  the  daughter  of  his  dragoman  had 
been  celebrated  rather  over  a  year  previously.  A 
group  of  friends  and  lookers-on  had  already 
assembled  before  the  door,  and  four  men  in  four 
different  costumes  were  dancing  the  ancient 
Romaic  dance  to  the  music  of  a  two-stringed 
fiddle.  Presently  an  inrush  of  boys  and  idlers 
announced  the  approach  of  the  bride,  and  she 
entered  the  courtyard  astride  of  the  old  white 
horse  that  did  duty  at  every  marriage  ceremony  in 
Scodra,  with  her  head  tied  up  in  a  scarlet  silk  veil, 
surmounted  by  the  helmcui  or  bridal  crown,  so  that 
from  the  time  she  left  her  father's  house  to  her 
arrival  in  the  church  she  saw  absolutely  nothing. 
She  was  supported  in  the  high-peaked  saddle  by 
her  father  and  a  near  relation,  behind  her  followed 
her  relatives,  male  and  female,  while  before  her 
young  men  danced  in  a  line  with  joined  hands, 
singing  in  monotonous  cadence  an  Albanian 
marriage  song. 


AN   ALBANIAN   WEDDING         157 

"  How  beautiful  tlie  bride  i«  ! — MarslialLih  ! 
She  lias  a  bioad  forehead  ! — Marshallah  ! 
She  has  eyebrows  like  ropes  ! — Marsliallah  ! 
She  has  eyes  like  coffee  cups  ! — Marshallah  ! 
She  has  cheeks  like  vermillion  ! — Marshallah  ! 
She  has  a  nose  of  fine  shape  ! — Marshallah  ! 
She  has  a  nioutli  'ike  a  pill-box  ! — Marshallah  ! 
She  has  teeth  like  pearls  ! — Marshallah  ! 
She  has  a  figure  like  a  cypress  tree  ! — Marshallah  !     Marshallah  !" 

Naturally,  the  recital  of  such  a  catalogue  of 
beauties  in  the  bride's  presence  would  bring  down 
upon  her  the  severest  penalties  of  the  evil  eye  ;  so 
to  avert  all  misfortune  the  chorus  took  up  the  cry 
"Marshallah"  after  each  charm  had  been  dilated 
upon,  and  prolonged  it  in  a  weird,  drawling 
howl. 

The  old  horse  halted  of  his  own  accord  before 
the  church  door,  five  or  six  men  unfolded  a  huge 
piece  of  cloth  and  held  it  up  to  screen  the  bride,  and 
then  the  father  seized  the  unresisting  girl  round 
the  waist  and  literally  hauled  her  off  her  lofty 
perch.  The  mother  and  the  officiating  old  ladies 
unpacked  the  bride's  head  in  the  church  porch, 
and  after  arranging  her  dress  pushed  her  gently 
into  the  church.  It  was  considered  grossly 
immodest  for  a  girl  who  was  going  to  be  married 
to  take  the  slightest  interest  in  the  proceedings,  or 
to  show  more  signs  of  Hfe  than  she  could  possibly 
help,  so,  with  her  face  unveiled  in  public  for  the 
first  time  in  her  life,  her  hands  clasped  before  her, 


158  ALBANIA 

and  her  eyes  fixed  on  her  toes,  she  submitted 
to  be  pushed  forward,  seemingly  more  dead  than 
ahve,  to  the  centre  of  the  church,  where  a  couple 
of  reading  desks  were  placed  side  by  side,  with  a 
napkin,  two  withered  wreaths,  and  a  dirty  little 
brown  glass  tumbler  half  full  of  red  wine  with  a 
spoon  sticking  up  in  it,  arranged  upon  them.  The 
bride  was  placed  before  the  left-hand  desk,  and  a 
gorgeous  object  she  was.  Her  full  Turkish 
trousers,  which  she  had  no  doubt  borrowed  for  the 
occasion,  were  of  immense  folds  of  the  finest  silk 
gauze  finished  round  the  ankle  with  heavy  gold 
embroidery,  and  at  the  waist  also  glorious  with 
gold.  Her  waistcoat  was  of  purple  velvet 
broidered  in  gold  thread,  with  many  a  quaint 
device  that  almost  hid  the  stuff,  and,  being  un- 
fastened in  front,  showed  the  delicate  gauzy 
chemise  of  finest  white  striped  silk.  Round  her 
waist  was  bound  a  brilliant  sash  of  many-hued  silk, 
and  over  all  hung  the  long  coat  of  crimson  cloth, 
heavily  worked  with  black  silk  braid.  Her  hair 
and  eyebrows  were  dyed  a  brilliant  and  obvious 
black,  and  her  head-dress  was  ornamented  with 
long  rows  of  silver-gilt  coins  and  chains  ;  but  the 
effect  of  her  dress  was  rather  spoiled  by  the  natty 
little  patent  leather  boots,  seamed  with  white,  alia 
franca^  which  she  wore  instead  of  the  red  leather 
sHppers  that  would  form  the  natural  finish  to  her 


AN   ALBANIAN    WEDDING         159 

dress.  So  she  stood,  with  downcast  eyes  and  folded 
hands, supported  by  her  witnesses,  before  her  reading 
desk ;  but  as  yet  there  was  no  sign  of  the  bride- 
groom. He  disappeared  directly  after  breakfast 
that  morning,  and  for  a  moment  the  thought 
entered  my  mind  that  perhaps  he  had  repented  of 
his  rashness,  and  was  then  crossing  the  mountains 
in  full  flight.  But  no.  As  soon  as  the  bride  was  well 
settled  in  her  place,  a  commotion  arose  among  the 
little  knot  of  men  near  the  door,  and  Luka  was 
ejected  from  his  concealment  and  pushed  forward, 
apparently  deeply  reluctant,  to  his  betrothed's  side. 
He  also  was  arrayed  for  the  wedding,  and  sported 
an  old  pair  of  dress  trousers,  given  him  by  some 
English  traveller,  and  a  rough  pea  jacket,  into  the 
pocket  of  which  he  crumpled  his  Turkish  fez  as  he 
took  his  place  before  the  right-hand  desk.  The 
old  iicipas  had  put  on  his  most  gorgeous  robe,  and 
let  down  his  long  grey  hair  over  his  shoulders  for 
the  occasion.  He  took  no  notice  of  the  happy 
pair  beyond  a  glance  to  see  that  they  were  in 
position,  but  turned  his  back  on  them  and  went 
through  the  opening  part  of  the  ceremony  at  full 
gallop,  with  a  subhme  air  of  bored  indifference, 
droning  through  his  nose,  and  only  punctuating  his 
reading  by  gasps  for  breath. 

Luka  was  not  bold  enough  to  defy  the  Albanian 
JNIrs.  Grundy  by  turning  his  head,  but  I   caught 


160  ALBANIA 

him  squinting  painfully  out  of  the  corner  of  his 
eye  at  the  girl  he  was  being  married  to  but  had 
not  yet  seen.  As  for  the  bride,  she  remained 
immovable,  regardless  of  the  prods  and  tweaks  at 
her  clothes,  with  which  the  old  women  behind 
attempted  to  steer  her  through  the  ceremony. 
Suddenly  the  papas  turned  round,  and  placed  the 
napkin  across  the  heads  of  the  couple,  and  on  the 
napkin  the  two  withered  wreaths,  accompanying 
that  part  of  the  ceremony  with  certain  functions, 
presumably  religious,  but  which,  from  his  careless 
and  indifferent  manner  of  performing  them,  had 
an  irreverent  and  ridiculous  appearance.  Three 
times  did  the  papas  make  the  circuit  of  the  desks 
singing,  and  followed  by  Luka  and  his  bride,  who 
with  considerable  difficulty,  as  their  heights  were 
somewhat  uneven,  balanced  the  napkin  and 
wreaths  on  their  heads,  the  godmother  and  wit- 
nesses supporting  the  girl,  and  urging  her  gently 
forward.  Then  he  whipped  the  napkin  and  wreaths 
off  their  heads,  and,  without  waiting  a  moment, 
the  bridegroom  disappeared  with  his  friends  and 
was  no  more  seen,  leaving  his  bride  standing  with 
face  unveiled,  eyes  cast  down,  hands  folded  in 
front,  and  toes  together.  Instantly  she  was  seized 
by  her  godmother,  her  head  was  once  more 
muffled  in  the  red  silk  wrapping,  and  she  was 
conducted  to  the  door,  where  the  old  white  horse, 


AN   ALBANIAN    WEDDING         KH 

gaily  caparisoned  in  red  and  gold,  was  awaiting 
her.  Once  more  the  six  friends  unfolded  the 
white  cloth  and  screened  the  horse  and  bride  with  it. 
Two  of  her  nearest  relatives  then  seized  the  girl 
and  put  her  astride  of  the  horse,  immediately  pull- 
ing her  half  off  again,  and  leavhig  her  for  a  few 
seconds  with  one  leg  dangling  across  the  easy- 
going animal's  back.  This  part  of  the  ceremony 
symbolised  the  submission  which  every  good  wife 
ought  to  show  to  her  husband.  In  another 
moment  they  righted  her,  and  settled  her  firmly 
in  the  saddle,  and  then,  preceded  by  boys  and  men 
singing  and  dancing,  and  followed  by  a  crowd  of 
relatives  and  lookers-on,  she  set  off  for  her  future 
home.  The  bridle  was  held  by  a  relation,  and  at 
her  side  walked  the  godfather,  who  pushed  her 
head  down  at  every  cross-road,  for,  as  she  was 
tied  up  in  crimson  silk,  she  could  see  next 
to  nothing,  and  it  would  be  a  terrible  and 
unlucky  thing  to  omit  to  salute  the  deities  of  the 
cross-roads  on  her  way  to  her  new  home,  a  married 
life  of  misery  being  the  inevitable  result  of  such 
neglect.  And  so  they  wound  slowly  through  the 
streets  to  the  husband  s  house,  where  the  bridal 
feasting  and  merry-making  took  place,  the  singers 
chanting  the  hymn  of  welcome : 

"  The  bride  is  on  her  way. 

She  is  like  a  buddiug  tlower  ! 

31 


162  ALBANIA 

The  bride  is  in  the  gateway. 

She  is  a  flower  of  sweet  scent ! 
The  bride  is  in  the  courtyard. 

She  is  like  a  full-blown  flower  ! 
The  bride  is  on  the  staircase, 

Her  face  is  like  a  flower  ! 
The  bride  is  in  the  hall. 

Her  neck  is  like  a  lily  ! 
The  bride  has  entered  the  chamber. 

Do  not  shed  tears  ! 
And  if  I  shed  tears^ 

It  is  because  I  shall  go 
No  more  to  my  fathei-'s  house." 

Nowadays  the  religious  part  of  the  marriage 
ceremony  is  performed  in  church,  but  formerly, 
when  neither  Latins  nor  Orthodox  were  allowed 
any  place  of  worship  in  the  city,  the  bride  and  her 
relations  went  in  procession  straight  to  the  bride- 
groom's house,  where  the  rites  of  marriage  were 
gone  through  before  a  little  altar  erected  in  the 
guest-chamber.  In  those  days  the  Latins 
worshipped  in  a  large  field,  in  the  middle  of 
which  was  an  altar  of  plain  boards,  with  a  light 
roof  over  it.  Here  the  Roman  CathoUc  towns- 
men and  Christian  mountaineers  assembled  in  rain, 
wind,  and  storm,  or  burning  summer  heat,  kneel- 
ing on  the  bare  ground,  and  with  no  roof  over 
their  heads.  The  Orthodox  families,  though  few 
in  number,  were  much  better  off,  for  they  had  a 
little  chapel  and  burying-ground  on  the  slopes  of 
Mount  Tarabosh,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Boiana. 
About  the  time  of  the  Crimean  War,   a   firman 


AN   ALBANIAN   WEDDING         1G3 

authorising  the  construction  of  a  Roman  Catholic 
cathedral  was  granted  by  the  Sultan,  but  the 
Pasha  refused  to  read  it,  and  it  was  not  until  1858 
that  Abdi  Pasha,  the  then  Governor-General, 
consented  to  publish  the  firman,  and  was  even 
anxious  to  be  present  in  person  at  the  ceremony  of 
the  consecration.  In  a  very  few  years  both 
Koman  CathoUcs  and  Orthodox  had  their  churches 
and  schools,  and  as  a  consequence,  the  bride  was 
only  received  at  her  husband's  house  after  the 
marriage  had  taken  place  in  the  church. 

At  his  marriage  Luka  had  no  house  of  his  own, 
for  he  and  his  father  were  poor  men,  and  had 
passed  all  their  lives  as  servants  or  retainers  of 
Gasparo  JMusciani,  one  of  the  principal  Christian 
merchants  of  the  toAvn,  and  it  was  at  the  house  of 
their  patron  that  the  wedding  festivities  were  to 
take  place.  As  M.  Ladislas  and  I  picked  our  way 
down  the  narrow  lane  bordered  with  high  hedges 
of  the  wait-a-bit  thorn,  that  led  to  the  house,  we 
heard  the  songs  and  shouts  of  the  bridal  party 
approaching  in  the  opposite  direction.  Soon  the 
old  white  horse  came  in  sight,  the  bride  perched 
on  high,  and  clutching  with  both  hands  at  the  high 
peak  of  the  saddle  in  front  of  lier,  the  lofty 
arrangement  of  croAVTi  and  veil  on  her  head 
nodding  portentously  as  the  animal  she  bestrode 
stumbled  and  fioundered   in   the   deep   ruts    and 


164  ALBANIA 

water-courses  of  the  narrow  lane.  Presently  they 
all  filed  in  through  the  gateway  into  the  great  court- 
yard, the  singers  singing  and  the  dancers  dancing 
with  renewed  vigour  as  an  end  to  their  efforts 
approached,  and  the  odour  of  dinner  made  itself 
sensible.  The  balcony  was  crowded  with  women 
and  girls  who  had  not  been  to  the  ceremony,  and 
the  procession  halted  before  the  wooden  staircase 
leading  to  the  first  floor,  which  as  usual  was  the 
only  inhabited  part  of  the  house.  The  bride  was 
once  more  seized  and  dragged  off  the  horse.  Two 
old  women  took  her,  one  under  each  arm,  and  two 
more  pushed  behind,  and  in  this  fashion,  still 
veiled  and  still  reluctant,  she  was  hauled  up  the 
staircase,  across  the  balcony,  and  into  the  large 
square  room  on  the  left-hand  side,  which  Musciani 
had  given  over  to  the  newly-wedded  pair.  She 
disappeared  through  the  doorway,  followed  by 
every  woman  and  girl  in  the  house,  and  only  the 
men  were  left  outside  on  the  balcony.  As  for 
Luka,  he  had  never  shown  himself  at  all,  and  had 
seemingly  taken  less  interest  in  his  wedding  than 
the  smallest  and  most  open-mouthed  boy  in  the 
establishment.  The  house  was  situated  beyond  the 
Roman  Catliolic  Cathedral  on  the  outskirts  of  the 
Christian  quarter,  near  the  bed  of  the  Kiri,  having 
a  huge  courtyard  in  front  of  it,  and  an  extensive 
garden   behind.      It  ^vas  an   imposing   structure, 


AN   ALBANIAN   WEDDING         165 

with  two  wings,  containing  one  room  apiece, 
stretching  out  into  the  courtyard,  and  all  along  its 
front  ran  a  wide  open  balcony,  out  of  which 
opened  the  doors  leading  to  the  inner  rooms.  All 
the  dwelling-rooms  were  on  the  first  floor,  the 
ground  floor  being  devoted  to  stables,  cellars,  and 
what  we  should  consider  outhouses. 

The  preparations  for  feasting  the  entire  crowd 
of  relations,  friends,  and  guests  were  being  rapidly 
pressed  forward.  All  the  women  were  in  the  inner 
chamber,  only  a  stray  and  hurried  matron  shuffling 
occasionally  across  the  balcony,  where  the  men 
were  lounging  about  cracking  native  jokes,  and 
putting  an  edge  on  their  already  healthy  appetites 
with  cigarettes  and  tiny  glasses  of  raki.  Soon  a 
plentiful  meal  was  served  for  the  women  in  the 
mysterious  seclusion  of  the  bride's  chamber,  but 
the  poor  girl  in  whose  honour  the  feast  was  given 
had  to  fulfil  the  conditions  of  a  tedious  etiquette 
even  at  dinner.  She  was  permitted  to  sit  down,  it 
is  true,  but  to  show  her  good  breeding  she  only  ate 
when  she  was  forced,  as  grief  at  leaving  her  father's 
house  was  presumed  to  have  taken  away  her 
appetite.  Moreover,  she  had  a  large  veil  thrown 
over  her  head,  in  order  that  the  guests  might  not 
see  her  eat ;  being  bound  to  maintain  an  exag- 
gerated appearance  of  modesty  and  timidity  all 
through  the  lengthy  ceremonies  of  marriage,  under 


166  ALBANIA 

pain  of  being  considered  a  shameless  and  abandoned 
woman. 

Outside  on  the  balcony  or  in  the  room  in  the 
left  wing  of  the  house  all  was  laughter  and 
merriment.  The  men  were  squatting  on  the  floor 
round  low  wooden  tables,  on  which  were  whole 
roast  lambs  or  quarters  of  sheep.  Plates  and 
napkins  were  at  a  discount ;  each  man,  drawing  his 
dagger  or  jack-knife,  attacked  the  steaming  mass 
of  flesh  before  him,  and  selected  for  himself  the 
portions  he  most  relished,  washing  down  the  great 
lumps  of  mutton  with  copious  libations  of  raki  and 
red  wine.  When  even  an  Albanian  appetite  could 
stand  no  more  mutton,  the  little  wooden  tables 
were  taken  away,  and  huge  flat  tin  dishes  full  of 
sweets  brought  in.  A  very  favourite  halwar 
consisted  of  light  puffy  cakes  smothered  in  honey. 
These  were  served  piled  up  in  a  vast  pyramid  on  a 
tin  dish,  and  placed  in  the  centre  of  each  group  of 
men.  Each  guest  plunged  his  hand  into  the  mass, 
seized  a  cake,  scooped  up  the  honey  at  the  edge  of 
the  dish,  and  swallowed  it  almost  at  a  gulp,  and  in 
an  incredibly  short  space  of  time  the  whole  pile 
had  disappeared.  The  Albanian,  like  the  Turk, 
has  a  sweet  tooth,  and  when  he  eats  honey,  cakes, 
or  any  other  horrible  confection  he  stands  no  half 
measures,  but  disposes  of  huge  platefuls  of  such 
surpassing  sweetness  that  the  ordinary  palate  is 


AN   ALBANIAN   WEDDING        107 

afflicted  with  an  unquenchable  thirst  and  a 
loathing  for  sugar  in  any  shape  or  form  for  some 
time  after  tasting  them.  AVhen  the  solid  part  of 
the  feast  was  over,  the  raki  circulated  with  fresh 
vigour,  acquaintances  shouted  uncouth  good 
healths  to  one  another  across  the  room,  and  the 
air  grew  heavy  with  the  thin  blue  smoke  of 
cigarettes.  Every  one  was  on  the  best  of  terms 
with  his  neighbours,  and  none  of  those  quarrels 
took  place  which  have  been  known  to  arise  during 
a  wedding  feast.  A  year  or  two  previously  my 
bootmaker  took  it  into  his  head  to  get  married, 
and  as  the  guests  were  drinking  in  the  afternoon,  a 
well-known  bully  of  the  town  made  his  way  in, 
and  joined  the  party  unasked.  He  soon  became 
quarrelsome,  and  challenged  a  Christian  near  him 
to  fight.  The  latter  refused,  so  the  bully  drew  his 
pistols  and  shot  the  other  in  the  belt,  which,  being 
of  metal,  turned  the  ball.  He  was  just  going  to 
fire  again,  when  one  of  the  guests  seized  the  pistol, 
and  in  so  doing  got  shot  through  the  hand  for  his 
pains.  The  patience  of  the  others  being  then 
exhausted,  they  rose  up  and  put  the  free  shooter 
forcibly  out  of  the  door.  The  wounded  man's 
hand  was  bound  up,  and  the  feast  proceeded  as 
before  the  interruption.  Happily  no  such  un- 
toward incident  disturbed  the  tranquillity  of  Luka's 
wedding  ;  all  pistols  and  yataghans  were  hung  on 


168  ALBANIA 

the  wall  outside,  it  being  a  grave  breach  of 
etiquette  to  sit  down  to  dinner  with  arms  in 
the  belt. 

For  M.  Ladislas  and  myself,  being  honoured 
guests,  a  table,  with  cloth  and  napkins,  was  spread 
quite  all  a  franca  in  a  room  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  house.  Our  host  and  his  nephew  joined  us, 
and  we  sat  on  chairs  and  ate  off  plates  with  knives 
and  forks,  in  the  European  fashion.  We  had  not 
seen  Luka  since  he  disappeared  so  suddenly  from 
the  church,  but  he  turned  up  from  somewhere  or 
other  below  to  wait  upon  us,  and  insisted  upon 
doing  so,  in  spite  of  my  remonstrances  with  him, 
for  it  seemed  only  natural  that  he  should  want  to 
join  his  friends  and  guests  at  their  dinner. 

When  we  arrived  at  the  house  the  day  was  fine 
and  bright,  but  a  dark  bank  of  clouds  showed 
through  the  trees  on  the  horizon  above  the  sea. 
Changes  of  weather  were  rapid  in  those  moun- 
tainous districts,  and  hardly  had .  we  sat  down  to 
dinner  when  the  sky  got  overcast,  and  a  thunder- 
storm burst  upon  us  in  all  its  fury.  It  can  hardly 
be  said  to  rain  in  Albania ;  it  is  more  like  the 
bursting  of  a  waterspout.  Heavy  black  clouds 
came  driving  up  from  the  Adriatic,  struck  against 
the  tops  of  the  mountains  above  the  lake,  and 
rolled  down  their  steep  rocky  sides  in  dense  masses 
of  vapour  upon  the  low  land  between  the   three 


AN    ALBANIAN   WEDDING         100 

rivers  and  the  lake.  A  cold  wind  blew  in  from  the 
sea  with  a  long  hollow  moan,  and  minarets,  trees, 
and  houses  were  blotted  out  from  view  by  the 
rolling  clouds.  Then  the  rain  dashed  against  the 
window  in  great  sheets  of  water,  as  if  some  one 
were  playing  a  garden  hose  upon  the  glass,  for  the 
clouds  seemed  to  dissolve  bodily  as  they  passed, 
and  not  merely  to  pour  down  rain  from  above. 
Though  only  a  little  past  midday  it  was  pitch 
dark,  save  for  the  blinding  flashes  of  lightning 
that  played  almost  incessantly  round  the  house, 
followed  instantly  by  deafening  crashes  of  thunder. 
Luka  at  once,  and  as  a  matter  of  course,  lighted 
a  lamp,  for  it  was  impossible  to  dine  comfortably 
by  the  brilliant  though  uncertain  glare  of  the 
lightning  flashes,  and,  so  far,  the  storm  showed  no 
sign  of  abating.  Old  Musciani  looked  very  glum, 
and  shook  his  head  frequently  in  a  most  Lord 
Burleigh-like  fashion,  and  at  last,  begging  us  to 
excuse  him,  went  out  into  the  verandah.  In  a 
minute  he  returned  and  said,  "  Signori,  you  are  my 
prisoners."  We  jumped  up  and  went  out,  and  at 
once  realised  the  meaning  of  our  host's  words. 
The  courtyard  was  full  of  water,  and  two  or  three 
of  the  servants  were  paddling  about  up  to  their 
knees  in  muddy  water,  with  rain  descending  in 
torrents  on  their  heads,  making  frantic  dashes  after 
wooden  boxes,  dishes,  and  tubs  that  were  being 


170  ALBANIA 

whirled  past  on  the  rush  of  the  stream.  The 
storm  beat  fiercely  into  the  verandah,  and  every 
flash  of  lightning  revealed  half  a  dozen  more 
household  articles  that  had  been  floated  out  from 
the  ground  floor,  and  were  now  spinning  wildly 
round  the  courtyard  in  the  endeavour  to  find  a 
way  out  to  join  the  flood  rushing  down  to  the  sea. 
Musciani  looked  on  with  his  hands  deep  in  his 
coat  pockets,  and  said  but  one  word,  "  Kiri." 
That  eccentric  river,  which  completely  dries  up  in 
summer  time,  had  for  some  weeks  past  been  over- 
flowing its  shallow  banks,  and  this  sudden  storm 
had  sent  down  such  a  freshet  from  the  Great 
Mountains  that  the  whole  of  the  Christian  quarter 
of  Scodra  was  a  couple  of  feet  under  water.  There 
was  nothing  to  be  done,  so  we  returned  to  our 
dinner  feeling  deeply  grateful  that  the  customs  of 
the  country  did  not  sanction  the  arrangement  of  a 
dining-room  on  the  ground  floor.  Slowly  the 
storm  drew  off  into  the  mountains,  the  flashes 
became  dimmer  and  more  intermittent,  the 
thunder  growled  away  in  a  deep  bass  over  the 
distant  crags,  the  clouds  broke,  and  Luka  put 
out  the  lamp. 

After  dinner  we  went  out  to  hear  the  native 
singers  and  musicians,  who  were  hard  at  work 
entertaining  the  men  in  the  room  where  they  dined. 
Our  entry  put  rather  a  damper  on  the  festivities ; 


AN   ALBANIAN   WEDDING         171 

the  youth  wlio  had  been  dancing  retired  bashfully 
into  a  corner  ;  the  singer  took  up  a  cigarette  and 
left  off  the  long-drawn  wail  that  passes  for  cheerful 
music  in  Albania  ;  only  the  musicians,  squatted 
cross-legged  on  the  floor,  took  no  notice  of  our 
arrival,  and  continued  the  plaintive  and  monotonous 
air.  One  of  them  was  playing  the  Guzla,  a  native 
mandoline,  made  of  thin  light  wood  with  two 
double  strings  of  fine  wire.  This  is  not  touched 
with  the  fingers,  but  with  a  quill  or  plectrum  of 
cherry  bark  and  produces  a  quaint  tinkling  sound 
that  harmonises  very  well  with  the  fiddle  it  accom- 
panies. The  fiddler,  an  old  man  with  huge  tin- 
rimmed  spectacles  on  his  nose,  held  his  instrument 
upright  on  his  knee,  with  the  strings  turned  from 
him,  and  sawed  away  with  his  bow  without  taking 
the  slightest  notice  of  anybody  else,  while  the  third 
musician,  a  solemn  youth  with  a  long  pale  face, 
banged  a  tambourine  on  his  wrist  and  knuckles 
with  a  grave  energy  that  was  quite  touching. 

Presently  the  host  came  in,  and  asked  us  if  we 
would  "  honour  "  the  bride  with  a  visit.  The  door 
of  the  bridal  chamber  was  thrown  open,  and  we 
entered.  In  one  corner  stood  the  bride,  supported 
by  two  old  women,  dressed  just  as  we  had  seen 
her  in  church,  but  with  her  veil  thrown  back,  and 
strings  of  silver-gilt  coins  all  over  her  head  and 
breast.     Round   the   room   women   of  every   age 


172  ALBANIA 

were  squatting  three  deep  on  the  floor.     All  rose 
at   our   entry,   and   stared  at   us   with   open-eyed 
interest,  for  to  most  of  them  there  was  a  delicious 
piquancy  in  being  in  the  same  room  with  a  Frank  ; 
while  Gasparo  Musciani — short,  stout  and  ruddy, 
with  both  his  hands  and  half  his  chibouq  thrust  deep 
into  the  pockets  in  the  heavy  flaps  of  his  long, 
scarlet  coat — strutted  about  in  the  centre  of  the 
room,  like  an  elderly  bantam  cock  among  his  hens. 
The   mistress   of  the   house   brought  a  couple  of 
chairs,  and  placed  them  just  in  front  of  the  bride, 
begging  us  to  be  seated.     As  we  sat  down  side  by 
side,  about  a  yard  in  front  of  Luka's  wife,  I  felt 
that   we   must  look  ridiculously  like  two  doctors 
examining  a  patient ;    but  there  we  were,  so  we 
assumed   the   most    dignified    air   we    could,   and 
gradually  the   women  settled  down  into  their  old 
positions   on   the   floor,    all   but   the    poor    bride. 
She  was   a   pleasant-faced   girl,   but   looked   very 
tired ;  and  no  wonder,  for  since  early  dawn   she 
had   not   sat   down   for   more   than   two  minutes 
together,  except  during  a  hasty  dinner,  and  when 
she   was  clutching,  with  frightened  grasp,  at  the 
high -peaked  saddle  on  the  old  white  horse.     We 
instantly   rose,   and   declared    we    would   not    sit 
while  the  bride  stood ;  and,  as  we  were  obdurate 
to  all  persuasion,  the  poor  wearied  girl  got  a  little 
repose.     Every  time  she  started  up  we  did  the 


AN   ALBANIAN   WEDDING         173 

same,  and  every  one  in  the  room  perforce  followed 
our  example,  as  it  would  have  been  insulting  for 
them  to  sit  while  we  stood ;  so  that  our  visit 
must  have  been  a  great  relief  to  the  bride  from 
standing  stock  still  and  silent  in  a  corner,  with 
eyes  downcast  and  folded  hands,  while  every  other 
woman  in  tlie  room  was  chattering  at  the  top  of 
her  voice.  AVe  wished  her  long  life  and  happiness, 
and  then,  putting  our  presents — a  gold  coin  apiece 
to  add  to  the  collection  round  her  neck — into  her 
hands,  we  left  the  room  and  went  out  into  the 
verandah. 

We  had  intended  going  home,  but,  as  the 
water  was  now  waist-deep  in  the  yard,  we  agi-eed 
that  we  might  as  well  see  the  ceremonies  out.  In 
the  courtyard  a  couple  of  men  and  a  maid-servant 
were  struggling  across  the  flood  to  rescue  the 
family  pig,  which  was  in  danger  of  being  drowned 
in  his  sty  by  the  gate.  The  three  rescuers  splashed 
up  the  rickety  ladder  that  led  to  the  pig's  abode, 
for  he,  too,  was  not  housed  on  a  level  with  the 
ground,  and,  after  a  prolonged  struggle  and  a 
series  of  protesting  grunts,  one  of  the  men  emerged 
with  the  jpig  clasped  in  his  arms,  and  began  to 
descend  the  ladder.  At  the  sight  of  the  flood, 
which  was  just  beginning  to  enter  the  sty,  the 
captive's  struggles  redoubled,  and  both  man  and 
pig  pitched  headlong   into  the   water.     Albanian 


174  ALBANIA 

imprecations  and  swinish  squeals  mingled  with  the 
shouts  of  laughter  from  the  balcony,  where  all 
the  wedding  guests  were  assembled  ;  but  by  that 
time  half  a  dozen  more  men  had  waded  out,  and 
the  pig  was  rescued  from  his  involuntary  bath, 
every  available  part  of  his  body  that  yielded  a 
firm  grip  being  seized  hold  of,  and  so,  struggling 
and  grunting,  he  was  borne  aloft  into  a  place  of 
safety. 

The  afternoon  wore  slowly  away,  and  then 
after  supper,  by  the  light  of  pieces  of  ckopino,  or 
resinous  pine,  the  Albanian  wedding  dance  was 
performed.  The  men  and  women  formed  up  in 
two  lines  opposite  one  another  in  the  balcony, 
with  their  arms  round  each  other's  necks,  and 
first  the  line  of  men  danced  slowly  forward  to 
meet  the  women,  singing  the  monotonous  marriage 
hymn.  As  the  men  retired  the  women  danced 
forward  after  them  singing  the  next  verse,  and  so 
the  two  lines  continued  swaying  backwards  and 
forwards,  chanting  their  epithalmium  for  half  an 
hour. 

JNI.  Ladislas  and  I  passed  the  night  in  the  room 
where  we  dined,  sleeping  air  Albanese  on  mattresses 
spread  on  the  floor.  Some  few  of  the  guests  had 
taken  off  their  shoes,  tucked  up  their  trousers,  and 
paddled  home,  but  the  greater  number  still  remained. 
The  women  were  stowed  away  in  the  inner  rooms, 


AN  ALBANIAN   WEDDING        175 

but  the  men  spent  the  night  on  the  balcony,  singing 
and  drinking,  and  watching  the  storm  which  came 
on  again  during  the  evening.  The  next  morning, 
friends,  having  learnt  where  we  were,  sent  horses 
for  us,  and  I  arrived  home  to  find  my  garden  in  a 
swamp,  and  poor  Simon  in  despair,  as  the  flood 
had  washed  all  the  charcoal  away  and  left  a  foot 
of  evil-smelling  mud  in  its  place. 

About  a  fortnight  later  on  I  found  in  my  plate 
at  breakfast  time  two  or  three  embroidered  napkins, 
and  on  my  inquiring  of  Luka  how  they  came  there, 
he  replied  that  his  wife  had  worked  them,  and 
hoped  I  would  do  her  the  honour  to  accept  them. 
He  blushed  painfully  as  he  gave  me  the  message, 
for  he  could  not  get  over  the  idea  that  his  bride 
and  his  marriage  were  very  shocking  subjects  to 
talk  about. 


XIV 

THE     STORY  OF    ALBANIA 

It  is  impossible  to  understand  a  race  or  a 
nation  without  knowing  something  of  its  history. 
The  Albanians  have  been  unfortunate  in  being  a 
voiceless  people,  overshadowed  and  surrounded  by 
races  which  have  not  been  backward  in  making 
their  wrongs  and  supposed  rights  known  to 
Europe. 

Bismarck,  with  his  brutal  disregard  of  facts 
which  did  not  suit  him,  asserted  at  the  Berlin 
Congress  in  1878,  "There  is  no  Albanian 
nationality."  The  Albanian  League,  even  while 
he  was  speaking,  proved  that  he  was  wrong,  and 
now,  more  than  thirty-five  years  later,  when  the 
work  which  the  Congress  of  necessity  left  un- 
finished has  to  be  taken  another  step  towards  its 
logical  end,  the  Albanian  nation  provides  one  of 
the  most  serious  of  the  questions  to  be  solved  by 
the  Court  of  the  Great  Peoples.  Fortunately  for 
Europe  the  agreement  of  the  Powers  was  so  over- 
whehning  in  its   unanimity  that   Servia,   the  one 


THE  STORY   OF   ALBANIA         177 

Balkan  state  which  ventured  to  proceed  on  the  Hnes 
of  I'rince  l^ismarck's  mistaken  dictum,  was  forced 
to  withdraw  her  pretensions.  Since  the  sprinf^  of 
last  year  there  has  been  no  questioning  the 
decision  that  ^Vlbania  is  to  be  autonomous ; 
the  further  questions,  what  is  to  be  the  exact 
status  of  the  new  King,  and  what  are  to  be  the 
exact  boundaries  of  the  new-comer  into  the 
European  circle,  are  matters  of  detail  which  were 
reserved  for  discussion  by  the  Great  Powers.  The 
central  and  important  fact  is  that  Albanian  nation- 
ality has  been  recognised  by  the  European 
conscience  and  that  civilisation  has  been  spared  a 
Twentieth  Century  Poland. 

Between  the  Albanian  and  the  Slav  there  stand 
centuries  of  hatred  and  blood-feud.  The  Albanian 
regards  the  Slav  as  an  intruder  and  a  robber  ;  the 
Slav  looks  on  the  Albanian  as  an  inconvenient 
person  who,  though  occasionally  beaten,  has 
always  refused  to  be  conquered ;  and,  having  the 
inestimable  advantage  of  being  more  skilled  in 
Hterature,  he  has  consistently  represented  the 
silent  Albanian  as  a  brigand  and  a  plunderer  of 
Slav  villages.  As  a  matter  of  history  the  boot 
is  on  the  other  leg.  Setting  aside  the  fact  that 
both  Albanian  and  Slav  can  be,  and  are,  brigands 
on  occasion,  the  Albanian  and  his  kindred  had 
been  for  centuries  quarrelhng  comfortably  among 


178  ALBANIA 

themselves  when  the  Slav  hordes  poured  across 
the  Danube,  and  drove  the  old  inhabitants  by 
sheer  weight  of  numbers  from  the  plains  to  the 
uplands,  and  from  the  uplands  to  the  moun- 
tains. Among  the  inaccessible  crags  on  the 
western  side  of  the  Balkan  peninsula  facing 
the  Adriatic  Sea,  the  remnants  of  the  old 
autocthonous  peoples  of  lUyria,  Epirus,  Macedonia 
and  Thrace,  have  for  centuries  held  their  own 
against  the  recurring  floods  of  Kelts,  Goths, 
Serbs,  Bulgars  and  Turks.  Like  the  Monte- 
negrins who  hold  the  northern  part  of  their 
mountains,  the  Albanians  have  been  defeated,  and 
have  seen  their  villages  burned  and  their  families 
massacred,  but  they  have  never  been  really  con- 
quered. The  only  difference  is  that  while  the 
Albanians  had  been  defending  their  fastnesses  for 
many  generations  before  the  Slavs  of  Montenegro 
came  south  of  the  Danube,  they  have  never  had 
the  good  fortune,  or  it  may  be  the  intelligence,  to 
acquire  a  really  powerful  literary  advertiser. 
Even  Lord  Byron  passed  them  over  in  favour  of 
the  Greeks,  though  he  credited  the  "wild 
Albanian  kirtled  to  his  knee  "  with  never  having 
shown  an  enemy  his  back  or  broken  his  faith  to  a 
guest.  It  is  unlikely  that  the  liberation  of  Greece 
would  have  been  obtained  had  it  not  been  for  the 
Albanian  warriors  who  supplied  the  best  fighting 


THE  STORY   OF    ALBANIA         179 

material  for  the  insurrection.  Admiral  Miaoulis, 
the  Botzaris,  the  Boulgaris  and  many  other  heroes 
of  the  beginning  of  the  last  century  were  Albanians 
or  of  Albanian  extraction,  but  the  modern  Greek 
lives  on  the  literary  achievements  of  the  ancient 
Hellenes,  while  the  strong  men  of  Albania,  like 
their  ancestors  who  lived  before  Agamemnon,  are 
relegated  to  obscurity  because  they  have  no  one  to 
focus  the  gaze  of  Europe  upon  them. 

Byron,  Finlay  and  a  hundred  others  did  their 
best   to   make   Europe   believe   that   the   modern 
Greek    is    the    true    descendant   of   the    ancient 
Hellene,  but  none  of  them  ever  gave  the  Albanian 
the  credit  due  to  him.     Then  the  fashion  changed  ; 
the  Slav  came  to  the  front,  and  Mr.   Gladstone, 
Lord  Tennyson  with  his  Montenegrin  sonnet.  Miss 
Irby   of    Serajevo   and    a   host   of   writers    came 
forward  to  extol  the  Serb  and  the  less  sympathetic 
but  still  Slavised  Bulgar  ;    with  the  result  that  the 
average   man   believes   that    the   Slavs    were   the 
original    owners    of   the    Balkan    peninsula,   and 
that  the  Turks  took  it  from  them   at   the   battle 
of  Kossovo    in  1389.     The   Albanian,  proud   and 
silent   on   his   crags,   without    even    a    disastrous 
battle   to   serve   as   a  peg  for  advertisement,   has 
through   the   centuries  asked  nothing   of  Europe 
and  has  been  given  it  in  ample  measure.      Perhaps 
the  Greeks  did  not  live  up  to  the  glory  that  was 


180  ALBANIA 

expected  of  them,  and  so  slipped  into  the  back- 
ground, but  it  is  certain  that  the  Slavs  came  to 
the  front  in  the  mid- Victorian  days,  and  by  1880 
were  tlie  pampered  children  of  hysterical  Europe. 
The  Slavised  Bulgar  is  a  dour,  hard-working  man, 
self-centred  and  unpolished,  and  it  was  a  little 
difficult  to  keep  up  the  enthusiasm  on  his  behalf 
to  fever  heat.  But  the  Serb  is  outwardly  a 
pleasant  and  picturesque  creature  with  a  keen 
sense  of  dramatic  values.  Constantine,  the  last  of 
the  Byzantine  Emperors,  fell  even  more  dramati- 
cally at  Constantinople  than  did  Lazar,  the  last 
Serbian  Czar,  at  Kossovopolje,  but  the  national 
mourning  for  the  black  day  of  Kossovo  seems  to 
have  struck  the  imagination  of  Europe,  while  the 
historically  far  more  important  death  of  Con- 
stantine  Palseologus  inside  the  gate  of  St.  Romanus 
on  May  29th,  1453,  has  left  it  untouched. 

The  Serb  is  sympathetic  in  the  passive  sense  of 
the  word ;  he  attracts  people  with  his  easy  philosophy 
and  his  careless  way  of  treating  and  looking  at  life. 
The  modern  Bulgar  does  not  attract ;  he  inspires 
respect,  perhaps,  but  not  affection.  In  racial 
characteristics  the  Serbs  are  akin  to  the  western 
Irish,  and  the  Bulgarians  to  the  lowland  Scotch ; 
and  the  more  plausible  man  naturally  makes  the 
more  favourable  impression  on  the  passing  observer. 
So    it    is    that     writers    on    the    Balkans    often 


THE   STORY   OF   ALHANIA         181 

unwittingly  inspire  their  untravelled  readers  with 
the  notion  that  the  Serbs,  now  represented  by  the 
Servians   and    Montenegrins,     were    the    original 
owners  of  the  Balkans,  but  shared  the  eastern  part 
with  the  Bulgars,  while  the  Turks  were  intruders 
who  unjustly  seized  the  country  and  are  now  justly 
surrendering  it  to  the  rightful  possessors.     In  reality, 
the  Albanians,  or  Shkypetars  as  they  are  properly 
called,  represent  the  original  owners  of  the  peninsula, 
for  the  Serbs  did  not  cross  the  Danube  until  about 
550  A.U.,   nor  the  Bulgars  till  679  a.d.,  when  the 
Shkypetars  had  enjoyed  over  eleven  hundred  years' 
possession  of  the  land,  enlivened  by  petty  tribal 
fights,  battles  with  or  under  the  Macedonian  kings, 
and  struggles  with   Rome.     In   every   town   and 
district   which   the   Slavs   can   claim  by  right    of 
conquest    under    some    nebulous    and   transitory 
Empire,  the  Albanians    can   oppose    the   title    of 
original  ownership  of  the   soil,    from    ages    when 
neither  history  nor  the  Slavs  were  known  in  the 
Balkans.       The   Romans,     unlike    most     of    the 
invaders   who   came   after    them,    were    adminis- 
trators, and  a  province  was  usually  the  better  for 
their  rule.     The  Thrako-Illyrian  tribes,    now    re- 
presented by  the  Shkypetars  or  Albanians,  were 
however  not   seriously  disturbed   by  the    Roman 
governors    and    colonists,    or    rather    they    Avere 
neglected    and   allowed    to    lapse   into   a    state  of 


182  ALBANIA 

lethargy  fi'om  the  turbulent  sort  of  civilisation  to 
which  their  own  kings  had  raised  them.  The 
Romans  policed  but  did  not  open  up  the  country. 
But  when  the  Slavs  and  the  Bulgars  swept  over 
the  land  like  a  swarm  of  locusts,  the  original 
inhabitants  were  either  exterminated  or  fled  to  the 
mountains,  where  they  led  a  fighting  existence 
against  what  was  termed  authority  but  which  to 
their  minds  was  the  tyranny  of  the  supplanter  and 
usurper.  The  five  hundred  years'  struggle  of 
Montenegro  against  the  Turks  has  often  been  told 
in  enthusiastic  language.  The  more  than  a 
thousand  years'  struggle  of  the  Shkypetars  against 
the  Slav  and  the  Turk  has  always  been  passed 
over  as  an  incident  of  no  importance. 

The  very  name  "  Albanian "  lends  itself  to 
prejudice.  To  the  Western  European  it  recalls 
the  travellers'  tales  of  Albanian  brigands,  and 
the  stories  about  the  Sultan  Abdul  Hamid's 
guards.  The  name  sounds,  and  is,  modern, 
whereas  Serb,  as  admirers  of  the  modern  Servians 
very  wisely  write  the  word,  has  an  ancient  flavour. 
The  tribes  that  are  now  known  as  Albanian  do  not 
recognise  themselves  by  that  name.  They  are 
Shkypetars,  the  Sons  of  the  Mountain  Eagle,  and 
their  country  is  Shkyperi  or  Shkypeni,  the  Land 
of  the  Mountain  Eagle.  They  have  a  legend 
that  Pyrrhus,  when   told  by  his   troops  that  his 


THE  STORY   OF   ALBANIA         183 

movements  in  war  were  as  rapid  as  the  swoop  of  an 
eagle,  replied  that  it  was  true  because  his  soldiers 
were  Sons  of  the  Eagle  and  their  lances  were  the 
pinions  upon  which  he  flew.  If  this  story  had  any 
foundation  in  fact,  it  goes  to  show  that  the  name 
Shkypetar  was  known  to,  or  adopted  by,  the  people 
and  their  king  about  300  B.C.,  and  one  can  only 
marvel  at  the  modesty  which  dates  the  name  no 
further  back.  At  any  rate,  Pyrrhus,  the  greatest 
soldier  of  his  age,  was  a  Shkypetar  or  Albanian, 
and  beside  him  the  Czar  Dushan  is  a  modern  and 
an  interloper.  The  name  Albania  was  not  heard 
of  until  the  end  of  the  eleventh  century  when  the 
Normans  under  Robert  Guiscard,  after  defeating 
the  Emperor  Alexius  Comnenus  at  Durazzo, 
marched  to  Elbassan,  then  called  Albanopolis,  and 
finding  the  native  name  too  difficult  for  their 
tongues,  styled  the  country  of  which  Albanopolis 
is  the  chief  town  by  the  easy  term  "  Albania." 
The  word,  which  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
used  officially  until  the  first  half  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  properly  designates  the  land  on  the 
western  side  of  the  Caspian  Sea,  and  much  con- 
fusion has  arisen  from  the  Norman  incapacity  to 
wrestle  with  the  word  Shkypetar.  Many  educated 
Albanians  claim  that  they  are  descended  from  the 
Pelasgi,  but  this  is  combated  by  some  European 
authorities.      As  we  know  next  to  nothing  about 


184  ALBANIA 

the  Pelasgi,  the  question  resolves  itself  into  a 
matter  of  speculation  incapable  of  proof  either  way, 
but  at  any  rate  it  is  certain  that  the  Shkypetars 
are  the  descendants  of  those  Thrako-Illyrian  tribes 
which,  by  whatever  name  they  were  called  by 
Greek  writers,  occupied  the  country  to  the  north 
of  Hellas  when  history  was  emerging  out  of  legend. 
The  earliest  known  king  of  Illyria  is  said  to  be 
Hyllus,  who  died  in  b.c.  1225.  Under  his  grandson 
Daunius  the  land  was  invaded  by  the  Liburnians, 
who  fled  from  Asia  after  the  fall  of  Troy.  The 
Liburnians  occupied  the  coast  of  Dalmatia  and 
the  islands  from  Corfu  northwards,  and  gradually 
became  absorbed  in  the  population.  Only  North 
Albania  was  included  in  Illyria,  which  stretched 
north  over  Montenegro,  the  Herzegovina  and 
Dalmatia.  South  Albania  was  known  as  Epirus, 
and  this  division  of  the  country  makes  the  selection 
of  the  historical  facts  relating  to  Albania  as  a 
whole,  more  than  usually  difficult.  But  it  is  easy  to 
guess  that  the  centuries  as  they  pass  saw  continual 
tribal  fights  between  the  Illyrians,  the  Epirots, 
the  Macedonians  and  the  other  Thrako-Illyrian 
peoples,  and  about  600  b.c.  came  the  first  of  the 
great  invasions  of  which  we  have  any  clear  know- 
ledge. The  history  of  the  Balkan  peninsula  has 
always  alternated  at  longer  or  shorter  intervals 
between   local   quarrels   and    huge    incursions    of 


THE   STORY   OF   ALBANIA         185 

barbarians    who   swept   across   the   land  and    sub- 
merged   the   plains,    but    left   the   mountains    un- 
subdued.    It  is  in  these  mountains  that  Albanian 
history  principally  lies,  for  while  the  people  of  the 
lowlands     absorbed     or    were    absorbed     by    tlie 
invaders,   the   older   races   fled   to  the  mountains 
and  preserved  intact  their  primitive  language  and 
customs.       The    Kelts   were    the    first    barbarian 
invaders  and,  as  was  usual  in  such  incursions  as 
distinct  from  widespread  racial  immigrations,  they 
were  probably  a  small  body  of  fighting  men  with 
their  wives  and  children,  who  were  soon  lost  in  the 
mass   of  the   people   among   whom   they   settled. 
They  were  absorbed  in  the    Illyrian  kingdom  of 
which  Scodra  or  Scutari  was  the  capital  and,  hke 
the  Liburnians  whom  they  supplanted  at  sea,  they 
gained  fame  and  wealth  as  pirates  in  the  Adriatic 
and  even  in  the  JNlediterranean.     In  the  first  half 
of  the  fourth  century  b.c.  Bardyles,  the  king  of 
Illyria,    conquered   Epirus   and   a    good    part    of 
Macedonia,  but  he  was  defeated  and  driven  back 
to  his  mountains  by  Philip,  the  father  of  Alexander 
the  Great.     A  little  later  Alexander  the  king  of 
the  Molossi  in  South  Albania  made  an  expedition 
into  Italy,  and  so  brought  Rome  into  contact  with 
the   opposite   shores   of  the   Adriatic.     All   these 
petty  kingdoms  were  evidently  merely  subdivisions 
of  the  same  race,  and  were  closely  connected  with 


18G  ALBANIA 

one  another.  The  sister  of  Alexander,  king  of  the 
JMolossi,  was  the  mother  of  Alexander  the  Great ; 
the  men  who  marched  to  Babylon,  Persia  and 
India  were  the  ancestors  of  the  Albanians  ;  and 
Epirus  and  lUyria  shared  in  the  anarchy  which 
followed  the  death  of  the  great  conqueror,  who  has 
himself  been  claimed  as  a  Shkypetar,  and  with 
considerable  justice. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  third  century  b.c. 
Agron  emerged  from  the  welter  as  king  of 
Bardyles'  old  realm  and  also  of  Epirus.  Like  his 
kinsman  Alexander  the  Great  he  was  a  first-rate 
fighting  man,  and  like  him  he  died  after  a  debauch, 
and  left  an  infant  son  to  succeed  him.  But  he 
differed  from  the  hero  in  lea\dng  also  a  widow, 
Teuta,  who  was  a  lady  of  much  character.  She  is 
said  to  have  stretched  a  chain  across  the  river 
Boiana  where  two  hills  shut  in  the  stream  above 
the  village  of  Reci,  and  to  have  levied  a  toll  on  all 
ships  going  up  and  down.  The  Albanians  say  that 
the  rings  to  which  she  fastened  her  chains  are  still 
to  be  seen  in  the  rocks.  Moreover  she  raised  an 
army,  built  a  fleet,  and  with  less  than  modern 
Albanian  caution  set  out  to  capture  the  island  of 
Issa  (now  Lissa)  which  happened  to  be  in  alhance 
with  the  Romans.  The  repubhc  sent  an  embassy 
to  Teuta,  but  she  slew  one  of  the  envoys  and 
defiantly   attacked     Durazzo     and     Corfu.       The 


THE   STORY   OF   ALBANIA         187 

Romans  thereupon  turned  their  arms  to  the 
Illyrian  coast  and  made  short  work  of  Teuta.  She 
was  driven  from  all  the  places  she  had  occupied, 
even  from  her  capital  Scodra,  and  had  to  accept  an 
ignominious  peace.  In  spite  of  this  the  Illyrian 
Shkypetars  had  not  learned  their  lesson,  nor 
realised  the  growing  power  of  Rome.  Demetrius 
of  Pharos,  who  succeeded  Teuta  as  ruler  of  the 
country  and  guardian  of  Agron's  son,  although  he 
owed  much  to  Rome,  began  to  rob  and  pillage  the 
aUies  of  the  repubhc,  and  endeavoured  to  unite  the 
Shkypetar  States  in  one  alhance.  He  failed,  and 
the  lands  of  the  Shkypetar  fell  under  the  power  of 
the  Romans,  who  contented  themselves  with  exer- 
cising a  protectorate  over  the  realm  of  the  young 
king  Pinnes.  The  three  Shkypetar  States,  Illyria, 
Epirus  and  INIacedonia,  rose  against  Rome  under 
Philip  of  JNIacedon  when  Hannibal  seemed  in  a  fair 
way  to  crush  the  republic,  only  a  small  portion  of 
what  is  now  Albania  south  of  the  Drin  remaining 
faithful  to  its  engagements. 

When  the  Carthaginian  danger  had  been 
disposed  of,  Rome  once  more  turned  to  the  lands 
across  the  Adriatic.  Gentius,  the  last  king  in 
Scodra,  had  allied  himself  with  Perseus  of 
Macedon  and  had  returned  to  the  Adriatic  piracy 
of  his  ancestors.  Thirty  days  saw  the  fall  of  the 
Northern  Shkyperi  kingdom.    The  praetor  Amicius 


188  ALBANIA 

in  B.C.  108  hiiided  on  the  coast  and  drove  Gentius 
into  Scodra,  where  the  king  soon  afterwards 
surrendered  at  discretion,  and  was  taken  with  his 
wife,  his  two  sons  and  his  brother  to  grace  the 
triumph  of  Rome.  Perseus  was  utterly  defeated 
by  the  Consul  PauUus  at  Pydna  shortly  afterwards, 
and  all  the  lands  of  the  Shkypetar  became  in- 
corporated in  the  lloman  Empire.  Epirus  in 
particular  was  severely  punished,  and  the  prosperity 
of  the  country  which  hitherto  had  been  consider- 
able, was  completely  ruined.  The  Shkypetars 
took  to  their  mountains,  and  the  Romans  did 
nothing  to  restore  the  wealth  and  culture  of  the 
times  of  the  native  kings.  The  cities,  even  Scodra, 
fell  into  decay,  and  when  Augustus  founded 
Nicopolis  on  the  north  of  the  Gulf  of  Arta  in 
commemoration  of  the  battle  of  Actium,  there  was 
not  a  single  city  of  any  importance  in  Epirus  or 
Illyria.  Nicopolis  itself  did  not  last  long,  for 
under  Honorius  it  had  become  the  property  of 
a  Greek  lady,  and  when  Alaric  and  his  Goths  in  the 
fifth  century  overran  Illyria  and  Epirus,  the  city 
was  sacked,  and  from  that  time  ceased  to  be  a 
place  of  any  note.  Under  the  Empire  the  deserted 
country  was  divided  between  the  provinces  of 
Illyria  and  Epirus,  North  Albania  being  the 
southern  portion  of  Illyria.  When  the  Roman 
Empire  was  divided  in  a.d.  395,   the  Shkypetars 


THE   STORY    OF   ALBANIA         189 

were  allotted  to  the  Eastern  Empire,  and  the 
country  was  known  as  Praevalitana,  with  Scodra 
for  its  capital.  The  condition  of  the  land  must 
have  been  very  much  what  it  was  under  the 
Turks.  The  prefects  of  the  Empire  ruled  on  the 
coast  and  in  the  plains,  but  in  the  mountains  the 
Shkypetars  enjoyed  semi-independence,  and  as  a 
consequence  of  this  neglect  the  country  remained 
more  or  less  derelict.  Hut  the  Shkypetars  were 
unquestionably  the  owners  of  the  soil  under  the 
Imperial  rule  of  Constantinople. 

In  the  fifth  century  came  the  first  of  the  great 
invasions  under  which  the  Empire  of  Byzantium 
was  finally  to  disappear.  The  rebel  Goths  under 
Alaric,  after  invading  Greece,  swung  north  and 
ravaged  Epirus  and  Illyria,  provinces  which  they 
had  so  far  neglected  owing  to  the  poverty  of  the 
land  since  the  occupation  by  the  Romans.  When 
the  Goths  invaded  Italy,  Shkyperi  enjoyed  a 
period  of  comparative  tranquillity  under  Justinian, 
and  until  the  coming  of  the  Slavs.  The  Huns 
and  the  Avars  were  passing  invaders ;  they  did 
not  settle  on  the  land,  but  they  drove  the  Thrako- 
lllyrian  tribes,  who  spoke  both  Latin  and 
Shkypetar,  into  the  mountains,  and  left  the  way 
open  for  the  Slavs.  It  was  at  the  end  of  the 
sixth  century  that  the  Slav  tribes,  who  had 
crossed  the  Danube  in  scattered  bodies  some  three 


190  ALBANIA 

hundred  years  previously,  came  in  overwhelming 
numbers  to  settle,  and  the  lowlands  were  ravaged 
and  occupied  by  them  sometimes  alone,  and 
sometimes  in  conjunction  with  the  Avars.  The 
Thrako-IUyrians  were  at  that  time  like  the 
Romanised  Britons  ;  they  had  become  enervated 
under  the  Pax  Romana  and  were  unable  to  resist 
the  ruthless  invaders.  They  fled  into  the 
mountains  of  Albania,  and  there  they  gradually 
dropped  the  Latin  language  and  the  veneer  of 
Roman  civilisation.  They  were  men  who  had 
to  fight  for  their  lives ;  the  weaklings  died  off, 
and  the  old  tongue  and  the  old  customs  of  the 
Shkypetars  were  once  more  resumed.  The  Serb, 
though  a  plausible  and  soft-spoken  individual 
when  he  has  got  the  upper  hand,  is  at  heart  a 
savage,  and  the  Thrako-IUyrians  who  were  driven 
out  of  Thrace  and  Macedonia  to  the  highlands 
of  Epirus,  and  Southern  Illyria  were  the  sterner 
remnants  of  a  population  which  had  seen  old  men, 
women  and  children  massacred,  and  homesteads 
burned  by  the  invaders.  Then  began  that  undying 
hatred  between  the  Shkypetar  and  the  Serb  which 
is  bitter  even  to-day,  for  the  Albanian  still  looks 
on  the  Slav  as  the  intruder  and  the  destroyer 
of  house  and  home.  This  explains  why  the 
modern  Albanian  has  always  been  more  friendly 
with   the   Moslem   Turk  than  with  the  Christian 


THE   STORY   OF   ALBANIA         191 

Slav.  The  brutalities  committed  by  the  Turks 
were  trifles  compared  with  the  atrocities  of  the 
Slav. 

In  the  first  half  of  the  seventh  century  the 
Slavs  were  recognised  officially  by  the  Empire. 
Heraclius  persuaded  them  to  turn  their  arms 
against  the  Avars,  and  after  that  they  held  the 
lands  they  had  seized  in  fief  of  the  Byzantine 
Empire,  but  governed  by  their  own  Zhupans.  The 
Thrako-Illyrian  Shkypetars  were  thenceforward 
confined  to  the  mountains  of  what  is  now  Albania, 
the  Slavs  occupying  what  are  now  Servia,  Monte- 
negro, Bosnia,  Herzegovina,  and  Dalmatia,  with 
Ragusa  as  their  capital.  The  next  intruders  into 
the  Balkan  peninsula  were  the  Bulgars,  an  Asiatic 
race  who  crossed  from  Bessarabia  at  the  end  of  the 
seventh  century.  They  were  a  people  akin  to  the 
Turks  who  were  to  come  after  them,  and  Hke 
the  Turks  they  were  principally  a  fighting  race. 
But,  whereas  the  Turks  have  always  stood  alone 
and  apart  in  Europe,  the  Bulgars  became  Slavised 
and  adopted  the  speech  and  manners  of  the  people 
they  turned  out  of  the  eastern  lands  of  the 
peninsula.  They  adopted  Christianity  in  864 
under  Boris,  who  like  his  namesake  of  to-day 
was  converted,  and  under  his  successor  Simeon 
about  900  A.D.,  they  founded  one  of  those 
ephemeral  '*  empires  "  of  the  Balkans  which  sprang 


192  ALBANIA 

up  like  mushrooms  alongside  the  more  lasting  and 
dignified  Roman  Empire  at  Byzantium.  Simeon's 
rule  extended  right  across  the  north  of  the  Balkan 
peninsula,  and  displaced  that  of  the  Serbs  who 
were  brought  under  his  rule.  The  Shkypetars 
were  included  in  the  Bulgarian  Empire,  but  as 
before  it  was  only  the  plains  and  not  the 
mountains  which  were  held  by  the  conquerors. 
Simeon's  rule,  though  he  vauntingly  took  the  title 
of  Czar  or  Caesar,  was  merely  nominal  in  the  West, 
and  when  he  died  in  a.d.  927  his  empire  went  to 
pieces.  Shishman  and  his  son  Samuel,  however, 
kept  the  West  independent  of  Byzantium  with 
their  capital  at  Ochrida,  and  probably  the  reign  of 
the  Czar  Simeon  was  the  period  when  the 
Shkypetars  were  most  nearly  subjugated  by  the 
Slav  or  Sla vised  intruders.  But  in  1018  the 
Empire  of  Simeon  was  utterly  crushed  by  the 
Emperor  Basil  Bulgaroktonos,  and  Albania  again 
passed  under  the  nominal  sway  of  Byzantium, 
while  Bulgars  and  Serbs  were  ruled  direct  from 
the  Imperial  Court. 

In  turn  the  spurt  of  energy  from  Constanti- 
nople died  down,  for  equally  with  the  Bulgarian 
and  Serbian  hegemonies,  it  depended  on  the  life  of 
one  man.  A  new  leader  arose  in  Bulgaria,  John 
Asen,  who  claimed  to  be  descended  from  Shishman. 
He  rebelled  successfully  against  the  Empire,  and, 


THE   STORY   OF   ALBANIA         193 

after  his  murder,  under  his  successors  and  especially 
John  AsenlL,  Albania  was  contained  in  the  second 
Bulgarian    Empire.       Nominally    the    Shkypetars 
passed  from  the  Empire  to  the  Bulgars,  and  from 
the  Bulgars  to  the  Serbs,  and  back  again  at  every 
shifting  of  the  kaleidoscope,  but  the  hold  of  all  the 
Empires  was  too  ephemeral  to  allow  of  a  costly 
conquest  of  the  barren  mountains.     When  either 
the   Emperor   or   the   Slavs  gained  decidedly  the 
upper  hand,  the  plains  and  towns  of  Shkyperi  fell 
under  the  conqueror,  but  in  the   feeble   intervals 
the  plains  and  at  all  times  the  mountains  were  in 
the    hands    of   that    unsubdued    remnant    of    the 
ancient  inhabitants — the  Shkypetars.     John  Asen 
died    in    1241    a.d.,    and   the   leadership   of    the 
Balkan  Slavs  began  to  pass  to   the  Serbs  under 
the  Nemanja  dynasty,  who  first  called  themselves 
Kings  and  afterwards  Czars  of  Serbia.     The  Stefans 
of  Serbia   fought   witli   the   Palaeologi   Emperors 
and    with    the    Bulgarians,   the    Bulgarian    army 
being  crushed  at  the  battle  of  Velbuzhd  on  June 
28th,  1330.     The  North  Albanians  remained  more 
or  less  independent  while  all  these  quarrels  were 
going  on  around  them,  but  in  the  time  of  the  Czar 
Dushan,     the     Strangler,    a.d.     133G,    they    were 
included  in  his  Empire.      After  the  break-up  of 
Dushan's  kingdom.  North  Albania  was  ruled  from 
Scodra   by   the   Princes   of  the   Balsha  family  of 


194  ALBANIA 

Provence,  who  had  taken  service  with  the  Serbian 
Czars.  In  1368  the  Prince  became  a  Roman 
CathoUc,  and  the  North  Albanian  mountaineers 
have  remained  of  that  rehgion  ever  since.  The 
Balshas  greatly  increased  their  dominions,  but  in 
1383  George  Balsha  I.  was  defeated  and  killed  by 
the  Turks  near  Berat,  and  George  Balsha  II.  gave 
Scodra  and  Durazzo  to  the  Venetians  in  return 
for  their  assistance  against  the  Turks.  But  the 
Venetians  did  not  aiFord  Balsha  help  of  any  value, 
and  the  family  retired  to  Montenegro  and  were 
succeeded  in  North  Albania  by  the  Castriot  family 
of  Croja,  who  were  native-born  Shkypetars  and 
extended  their  rule  over  the  whole  of  the  country 
except  the  places  held  by  Venice.  South  and 
Middle  Albania  were  independent  under  the  rule 
of  the  Despot  of  Epirus,  Michael  Angelus  who, 
though  illegitimate,  claimed  to  be  the  heir  of  the 
Emperors  Isaac  and  Alexius  Angelus.  He  raised 
the  Albanian  tribes,  discomfited  the  Prankish 
Dukes  of  Thessalonica  and  Athens,  and  after  his 
death  his  nephew,  John  Angelus,  fought  with  John 
Dukas  for  the  Empire  of  Byzantium,  but  was 
defeated  in  1241  a.d.  The  heir  of  the  AngeH 
then  retired  to  the  Albanian  mountains,  and  as 
Despots  of  Epirus  the  family  ruled  the  country  in 
spite  of  the  Emperor  for  several  years. 

Meanwhile  the  last  of  the  conquerors  of  the 


THE   STORY   OF   ALBANIA         195 

Balkans  were  overrunning  the  peninsula.  In  1354 
the  Turks  were  invited  over  to  Thrace  by  John 
Cantacuzenus  to  help  him  against  the  Palaeologi. 
They  seized  and  settled  at  Gallipoli,  and  in  1361 
Sultan  Murad  I.  took  Adrianople.  Servia  was 
invaded,  and  crushed  at  Kossovopolje  in  1389, 
where  some  Albanians  under  their  Prince  Balsha 
fought  in  the  army  of  the  Czar  Lazar.  The  Sultan 
Murad  II.  advanced  against  Albania  in  1423,  and 
took  among  others  the  four  sons  of  John  Castriot 
of  Croja  as  hostages.  The  youngest  of  these  sons 
was  George  Castriot,  the  famous  Scanderbeg,  who 
was  educated  at  Constantinople  by  the  Sultan. 
In  1443  he  rose  against  the  Turks  and  seized 
Croja,  and  though  army  after  army  was  sent 
against  him  he  defeated  many  viziers  and  generals 
and  the  Sultan  Murad  himself  The  bravery  of 
the  Albanians  and  the  difficulties  of  the  mountains 
made  the  leadership  of  Scanderbeg  invincible,  and 
even  Mahomet  II.,  the  Conqueror,  was  beaten  by 
the  Albanian  prince  at  Croja  in  1465.  But  Scan- 
derbeg was  unable  to  get  any  help  from  Europe, 
and  he  died  in  1467  leaving  no  worthy  successor. 
Croja  was  taken  by  jVIahomet  II.  in  1478,  and  the 
next  year  Scodra,  Antivari  and  other  towns  on  the 
coast  were  surrendered  to  the  Turks  by  Venice. 
In  the  mountains  the  Albanians  always  had 
practical    independence    under    the     Turks,    but 


196  ALBANIA 

Scodm  was  at  first  governed  by  Turkish  Pashas. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century  a 
Mahometan  Albanian  chief,  JNIehemet  Bey  of 
Bouchatti,  a  village  just  south  of  Scodra,  seized 
the  city  and  massacred  his  rivals.  He  was  so 
powerful  that  the  Porte  thought  it  wise  to  make 
the  Pashalik  hereditary  in  his  family,  and  he 
governed  not  only  Scodra  but  also  Alessio,  Tiranna, 
Elbassan  and  the  Dukadjin.  Kara  INIahmoud, 
his  son,  was  quite  an  independent  Prince.  He 
twice  invaded  Montenegro  and  burned  Cettigne, 
and  defeated  the  Turkish  troops  at  Kossovopolje, 
but  in  1796  he  was  defeated  and  killed  in  Monte- 
negro. His  descendants  ruled  North  Albania,  and 
headed  revolts  in  Bosnia  and  Servia,  and  fought 
aofainst  the  Sultan  with  success.  But  after  the 
Crimean  War  the  Porte  sent  an  army  to  Scodra, 
and  the  reign  of  the  Moslem  Albanian  Pashas  of 
Bouchatti  came  to  an  end.  While  the  Pashas  of 
Bouchatti  were  defying  the  Sultan  in  North 
Albania,  Ali  Pasha  of  Janina  defeated  them  in 
the  south.  He  united  the  South  Albanians,  but 
after  a  long  and  successful  career,  he  was  finally 
besieged  in  the  castle  of  Janina  and  put  to  death 
in  1822.  During  the  last  half  century  the  country 
has  been  governed  from  Constantinople,  but  though 
the  towns  were  occupied  by  garrisons  the  moun- 
taineers retained   their   arms,   their   independence 


THE   STORY   OF   ALBANIA         107 

and  their  tribal  laws  and  customs.  The  Albanian 
League,  which  was  founded  in  1878  under  the 
leadership  of  Hodo  Bey  of  Scodra  and  Prenck 
Bib  Doda  of  JNlirditia,  united  the  Mahometans 
and  Christians  of  North  Albania  to  protest  against 
the  cession  of  Gussigne  and  Plava  to  JNlontenegro, 
and  was  successful  to  the  extent  of  getting  the 
Dulcigno  district  substituted  for  the  mountain 
towns.  In  spite  of  the  exile  of  Hodo  Bey  and 
Prenck  Bib  Doda  the  League  has  always  had  a 
subterranean  existence  directed  against  all  enemies 
of  Albanian  nationality.  Only  in  a  less  degree 
than  Montenegro  did  Albania  preserve  its  freedom 
from  the  Turkish  rulers,  and  that  was  owing  to 
the  ease  with  which  the  plains  and  coast  can  be 
occupied  by  troops.  The  leading  families  among 
the  Moslem  Albanians  have  supplied  a  great 
number  of  civil  and  military  officials  to  the 
Ottoman  service,  and  these  Pashas  and  Beys  have 
proved  themselves  of  the  highest  ability.  There 
will  be  no  lack  of  capable  rulers  now  the  new 
state  is  constituted. 

The  Shkypetars  have  not  only  preserved  their 
mountain  homes  but  also  their  language  and  their 
laws.  Albanian,  to  give  it  the  modern  name,  is 
a  very  ancient  Aryan  tongue  which  was  spoken  by 
the  Balkan  tribes  before  the  time  of  Alexander  the 
Great.     It  is  a  non-Slavonic   language,  the  Slav 


198  ALBANIA 

words  used  being  simply  additions  made  in  com- 
paratively modern  times.  In  Old  Serbia  and  on 
the  borders  of  Montenegro  the  Albanians  have 
mixed  and  intermarried  wdth  the  Slavs,  but  they 
have  only  adopted  a  few  words  of  Servian  and  not 
the  entire  language.  In  the  south  a  similar  process 
has  taken  place.  Albanian  is  certainly  related  to 
Greek,  and  it  has  borrowed  many  words,  especially 
among  the  tribes  along  the  border,  so  that  the 
purest  Albanian  is  to  be  found  in  the  mountains  of 
Roman  Catholic  Mirditia  and  among  the  Mussul- 
man families  in  the  south  of  Central  Albania.  So 
much  is  this  the  case  that  the  tribes  on  the 
Montenegrin  border  find  some  difficulty  in  under- 
standing those  in  the  districts  marching  with 
Greece.  About  one-third  of  the  language  is  made 
up  of  words  taken  from  Keltic,  Teutonic,  Latin 
and  Slav  owing  to  the  invasions  from  which  the 
Shkypetars  have  suffered  ;  another  third  is  Aeolic 
Greek  of  a  very  archaic  form ;  and  the  remaining 
third  is  unknown,  but  probably  represents  the 
tongue  of  the  ancient  Thrako-Illyrian  tribes. 
Interesting  speculations  have  been  made  as  to  the 
exact  position  of  Albanian  in  the  Aryan  family, 
but  it  is  absolutely  agreed  that  it  is  a  non-Slavonic 
tongue  of  great  antiquity.  It  is  an  extraordinarily 
difficult  language  for  a  foreigner  to  speak,  and  the 
Shkypetars   claim  that  none  but  the  native  born 


'AXyaSTjTov   'AXSavixov. 


b  w;  ~i  VcLhKv/.bi   \y  oiov  6apt,  b  yoz'o:,. 

Y  m:,  to  'E'aX.  y  ■'^po  TC-i   a,   o,  xal  w   olcv   y^?^-*)   ?p*YH''^? 

Y  w?  TO  'J'LAA.  y  '^•?^  Tov   £,  T],   xal  f   oIov  "^a./.,   alu.a. 
0. 
d   w;   IS    raAAixcv    (1-  oIov   c/ipa,   r,   OOpa. 

£. 

£     £|l),OV     -/.XeITTOV     oIov    X£-£,    TOUTO  . 

Z       ^  (jj^  TO   raX).ixiv  j'   otov  'C^~i,  £ioo;  o'JUiiz. 

0  0. 

1  I. 

J  J   CO?  TO   iTaXixov  j-  oIov  ja[x,  aiixai. 

K  X  w;  TO  'KXX.   X  -po  ToiJ   a,   o,  xal  w    oiov  xaAt,   o  i--oc. 

K.  X  to?  TO  'EXX.  x  -pi  Toij   £,  Tj,   xal  r    oIov  xasa,  o  Xaiij.6;. 

A  X  to?  TO  'EXX.  X  -po  Tou  a,  o,  xal  to-   olov  Y^Xa,  to  oa^,'-r,Tov. 

A  X  to?  TO  'EXX.  X  zpo  TOU  £,  Tj,  xal  V  oIov  -£Aa,    r,  -oopaoa. 

M  [J.. 

N  V. 

IN  V   UYpoTEpov   TOU  'EXX-r]vixou   v   OlOV   v|,   £V. 

O  0.      '      ' 

II     - 

P  p  to?  TO  'EXXvjviyov   p-   oIov   p8a/,  (puXoeTTio. 

P  p  uY^^'^^fov  TOU  'EXXtjVIXOu   p-  OIOV   p8aj,  Eupi'Coj. 

S  a. 

S  a  to?  TO  'AyyXixov   sh'   OIOV   d-apa,  to  Trpioviov. 

T  T. 

S  8  iIj?  TO  'EXX-rjvixov   ou*   oiov   8oa,   r\  6o6?. 

T  u  (lb?  TO  FaXXtxiv  U"  oiov  OXi,  to  a.'jxpov. 

<I>  9. 

X  •/  SaOuTcpov  TOU  'EX^.TjV'.xou  y   oiov  yd,  TptoYOJ. 

TS  Ta       »  To-STaa,  to  xopaaiov. 

Til  TT       »  TcrSvt,  TO  zaiilov. 

DS  of(T       »  rfatt/aa,  6  (rnivOr,p. 

DiS  ofo"      »  daoAOL,  Yj  cpXoxaTa. 

4>(oviQ£VTa  €poLyia,      a.     i     i     i     6     S     it. 
"•tcovrjcVTa  u.axpa,        a     £      §      I     6     8     G. 

ALBANIAN    ALl'UAliKTS. 

Oil  the  left  adapted  from  Greek  ;   on  the  right  from  Turkish.       Konmii 
are  used  in  Xcirth  Albania. 


JJ 

J 

r 

0 


letters 


THE    STORY   OF   ALBANIA         11)1) 

can    pronounce    tlicir    (jueer    consonantal    sounds 
correctly.     The  ditticulty  of  learning  the  language 
is  increased   by  the  want  of  a  suitable  alphabet. 
The  Jesuits  and    Franciscans  of   Scodra    use    the 
Latin  alphabet ;  in  the  south  the  Orthodox  priests 
use  Greek  letters.      But   neither  system  is  satis- 
factory, and  consequently  some  grammarians  have 
introduced  diacritical  marks,  or  have  mixed  up  the 
two  sets  of  characters  into  one  jumbled  alphabet. 
Albanian  has  also  been  written  in  Turkish  characters 
but  probably  with    even    less  success,  and  it  is  a 
proof  of  the  marvellous  vitality  of  the  language 
that  it  has  survived  through    the  ages  without  a 
literature,  untaught  and  unwritten  in  the  schools.  \ 
Except  where  they  have  intermingled  with  the! 
Slavs  and  other  races  the  Shkypetars  are  tall  and 
fair.     Those  who  have  suffered  from  the  poverty 
of  the  mountains  have  no  pretensions  to  good  looks, 
but  the    average    mountaineer  who  belongs  to  a 
well-to-do  tribe  has  an  oval  face  vvdth  an  aquiline 
nose,  high  cheek  bones,  blue-grey  eyes,  fair  hair, 
and  a  long  golden  moustache.     Their  bodies  are 
straight  and  slim  and  not  so  heavy  as  those  of  the 
Montenegrins.     Even  in  the  towns  the  Albanians 
seldom   get  fat    but    preserve  their    lithe,    active 
figures  all  their  lives.     Some  of  the  IMirdites  might 
pass  anywhere  for  Englishmen  of  the  blonde  type. 
The  Shkypetars  have  always  been  divided  hito  two 


200  ALBANIA 


great  families ;   the  Ghegs  in  tlie  north,  and  the 
Tosks  in  the  south,  the  river  Skumbi  marking  the 
boundary  between  them.     No  meaning  has  been 
found  for  the  name  Tosk,    but  Gheg    is  said  to 
signify    "  giant,"   and  in   the  fifteenth  century  it 
was  used  by  the  Turks  as  a  sort  of  title  for  the 
ruling  family  of  Mirditia.     The  North  Albanians 
are  divided  into  tribes  or  clans  ;  those  to  the  north 
being  grouped  under  the  designation  of  Malissori, 
or  men    of  the    Black  Mountains,  including   the 
Clementi,  Castrati,  Hoti,  Skreli  and  other  tribes  ; 
those  to  the  east  including  Shalla,  Shoshi,  Summa 
and  others,  collectively  called  Pulati  or  the  Wood- 
landers  ;    and    the    confederation  of  the  Mirdites, 
who  are  Roman  Catholics  and  governed  by  a  chief 
of  the  Doda  family.     At  the  present  moment  their 
chief  is  Prenck  Bib  Doda  Pasha,  who  was  for  many 
years  an  exile  in  Asia  Minor  for  his  share  in  the 
League.     In  South  Albania  the  Tosks  are  divided 
into  three  principal  groups,  the  Tosks,  the  Tchams 
and  the  Liapes,  and  they  again  are  subdivided  into 
tribes.     In  North   Albania  the  Mirdites  and  most 
of  the  Malissori  are  Roman  Catholics,  and  they  are 
the  descendants  of  the  men  who  in  1320,  after  the 
Serbian  Czars,  at  that  time  holding  Scodra  and  the 
plain,    had  abandoned    Catholicism    and    adopted 
Orthodoxy,  refused  to  give  up  their  allegiance  to 
the  Pope.     The    number  of  Orthodox  in    North 


THE   STORY   OF   ALBANIA         201 

Albania  is  very  small,  and  half  the  inhabitants  of 
Scodra,  many  of*  the  Malissori,  a  large  proportion 
of  the  men  of  Pulati,  and  nearly  all  those  round 
Prisrend,  Jacova  and  Ipek  are  Moslems.  In  South 
Albania  the  townsmen  and  men  of  the  plains  are 
principally  Moslems,  except  towards  the  Greek 
frontier  where  they  are  mostly  Orthodox.  An 
Albanian  official  reckons  that  nearly  half  of  the 
one  million  eight  hundred  thousand  inhabitants  are 
JNIoslems  ;  less  than  a  third  Orthodox,  and  the  rest 
Roman  Catholics.  This  is  probably  near  the  mark, 
but  every  statistician  has  his  own  figures  and  the 
reasons  for  them,  though  to  a  less  degree  than  in 
Macedonia. 

The  Albanian  territories  between  Antivari 
and  Dulcigno  were  given  to  Montenegro  in  1880 
after  an  armed  protest  by  the  Albanian  League, 
and  etlmologically  the  lands  of  the  Shkypetar 
now  include  Scodra  and  its  plain,  the  mountains  of 
the  Malissori,  Gussigne-Plava,  Ipek,  Jacova, 
Prisrend,  Pulati,  JMirditia  and  the  country  west 
of  Lakes  Ochrida  and  Janina  as  far  as  the  Gulf 
of  Arta.  Round  Prisrend  there  is  a  minority  of 
Slavs,  and  in  the  south  below  Janina  there  is  a 
large  proportion  of  Greeks,  but  the  limits  here 
given  contain  all  the  territories  left  to  the  Shkypetar 
by  the  successive  incursions  into  the  Balkan 
peninsula   of  Slavs   and    Bulgars.      Happily    the 


202  ALBANIA 

Servian  attempt  to  ignore  the  Albanians  and 
to  represent  Scodra,  Durazzo  and  the  plains  near 
them  as  Slav  because  the  Serbian  Czars  held  them 
at  intervals  from  the  seventh  to  the  fourteenth 
centuries,  has  failed,  chiefly,  it  must  be  admitted, 
owing  to  the  assertion  by  Austria-Hungary  of  her 
own  interests,  and  not  to  any  love  for  historical 
justice  on  the  part  of  Europe.  Except  that  they 
have  not  one  chieftain  over  all  the  tribes,  and 
have  had  a  much  wider  extent  of  territory  to 
defend  against  more  numerous  enemies,  the  case 
of  Shkypetars  is  exactly  parallel  to  that  of  the 
Montenegrins.  The  Montenegrins  held  their 
own  for  five  hundred  years  in  a  little  block  of 
mountains  against  the  Turks  only ;  the  Shkypetars 
have  held  their  own  for  considerably  over  a 
thousand  years  against  successive  waves  of  Slavs, 
Bulgars  and  Turks.  They  have  often  been 
submerged,  but  they  have  always  come  to  the 
surface  again,  and  by  their  long  and  stubborn 
fight  they  have  earned  over  and  over  again 
their  right  to  the  barren  rocks,  infrequent 
plains  and  insignificant  harbours  which  go  to 
make  up  their  patrimony,  or  rather  what  is 
left  of  it.  They  are  the  last  remnants  of  the 
oldest  race  in  Europe,  for  they  represent  peoples 
who  preceded  the  Greeks.  They  were  deep-rooted 
in  the  soil  of  the   Balkan  peninsula  ages  before 


THE   STORY   OF   ALBANIA        203 

the  first  Slav  crossed  the  Danube,  and  if  the  Serb 
and  the  Bulgar  have  acquired  a  right  to  the  lands 
from  which  they  drove  the  ancient  tribes,  at  least 
those  original  inhabitants  have  justified  their  claim 
to  the  rocks  and  shore  from  which  no  enemy,  Slav, 
Bulgar  or  Turk,  has  been  able  to  dislodge  them. 


XV 


CUTTING    OUT   THE   NEW    KINGDOM 

Out  of  the  crucible  which  has  been  seething  in  the 
flames  of  the  Balkan  war  the  kingdoms  of  the 
peninsula  have  emerged  aggrandised  at  the  expense 
of  Turkey,  and  have  been  quarrelling  over  the  dis- 
tribution of  the  spoil  ever  since.  They  were  not 
allowed  to  cut  up  Albania  altogether,  and  from  the 
body  which  was  left  after  the  limbs  had  been 
lopped  off  to  satisfy  the  Allies,  Europe  has  begun 
the  creation  of  a  new  state,  the  last  of  those  which 
have  been  built  out  of  the  fragments  of  the  Byzan- 
tine and  Turkish  Empires  by  modern  diplomatists. 
Albania  is  being  made  into  an  autonomous  state 
with  all  the  blessings  of  parliamentary  and  bureau- 
cratic government,  with  its  own  prince  and  system 
of  elections  all  complete.  This  is  the  last  state 
which  can  be  manufactured  out  of  the  ancient 
material  of  Europe,  unless,  as  some  Slavs  hold, 
Austria  is  to  be  partitioned  in  the  future,  but  the 
nationality  which  is  to  compose  it  is  so  distinct  and 
separate  from  the  rest  of  Europe,  and  so  unlike 


CUTTING  OUT  THE  NEW  KINGDOM    205 

that  of  the  Slav  races  by  which  it  is  hemmed  in, 
that  its  creation  as  an  autonomous  state  is  but  the 
natural  outcome  of  the  logic  of  events.  The  future 
of  Albania,  this  new-comer  into  the  circle  of 
European  governments,  will  depend  on  the  skill 
with  which  its  boundaries  are  drawn.  Expediency, 
and  not  strict  justice,  has  always  ruled  the  decisions 
of  the  Great  Powers,  who  are  the  final  Court  of 
Appeal  in  such  matters,  but  if  a  mistaken  idea  of 
what  seems  to  be  the  easiest  way  is  allowed  to 
prevail,  and  if  the  land  greed  of  the  neighbouring 
states  is  permitted  to  supplant  the  natural  and 
ethnical  frontiers  by  boundaries  inspired  by  earth- 
hunger,  then  the  Near  Eastern  Question,  so  far 
from  being  settled,  will  only  be  shifted  to  another 
phase,  and  the  Slav  will  stand  out  as  the  oppressor 
of  nationalities  in  the  Balkans  in  place  of  the 
Turk.  The  Albanian  comes  of  the  oldest  race  in 
Europe,  he  is  the  descendant  of  the  original  owners 
of  the  soil,  and  to  him  the  Slav,  just  as  much  as  the 
Turk,  is  an  intruder  and  a  supplanter.  The  Slav 
was  only  overrun  by  the  Turk ;  the  Albanian  was 
overrun  by  the  Slav  in  addition  to  the  Turk,  and 
the  future  of  Europe's  latest  experiment  in  state 
building  depends  upon  the  recognition  of  this  fact. 
It  is  said  that  an  ingenious  man  of  science  has 
succeeded  in  manufacturing  an  egg  without  the  aid 
of  the  usual  hen,  but  with  the  correct   chemical 


206  ALBANIA 

constituents  and  the  familiar  appearance.  In  every 
respect  it  is  so  exactly  like  an  eggy  and  is  so  scien- 
tifically accurate  in  composition,  that  only  the  man 
who  eats  it  doubts  of  its  perfect  success,  and 
recognises  that  there  is  something  more,  something 
indefinable,  in  an  egg  which  is  beyond  outward 
appearance  and  chemical  components.  This 
triumph  of  art  over  nature  is  known  as  the 
Synthetic  Egg,  and  there  is  the  gravest  danger 
lest  the  egg  which  Europe  is  now  endeavouring  to 
produce  should  be  of  the  Synthetic  variety  ;  a  state 
in  everything  but  that  which  makes  a  living  state, 
the  inclusion  within  its  boundaries  of  all  those  of 
the  nationality.  Since  for  the  sentimental  satis- 
faction of  memories  of  their  evanescent  empires  of 
mediaeval  times,  the  Bulgar  and  the  Serb  have  been 
allowed  to  lop  off  the  fairest  portions  of  the  too 
meagre  heritage  of  the  Albanians,  the  new  state 
runs  the  gravest  risk  of  being  addled  from  its  in- 
ception. The  unrest  will  smoulder  in  the  Balkans 
ready  to  burst  into  a  flame  at  any  moment,  for  the 
Turk  was  the  spasmodic  but  usually  easy-going 
tyrant  of  the  old  school,  whereas  the  Slav  will  be 
the  tyrant  of  the  new  bureaucracy  which  cloaks  its 
oppression  under  the  pretence  of  legality.  The 
Albanian  who  is  left  outside  the  border  will  be 
always  struggling  to  join  his  brothers  in  the  new 
state,  and  the  story  of  the  Macedonian  risings  will 


CUTTING  OUT  THE  NEW  KINGDOM    207 

be  repeated  over  again,  and  with  greater  justifica- 
tion. The  future  of  a  "  synthetic  "  and  artificial 
Albania  can  be  told  in  one  word  ;  bloodshed. 

After  the  victorious  march  of  the  Bulgarians, 
Servians  and  Greeks  through  Thrace  and  Mace- 
donia, the  pretence  that  war  was  declared  to  free 
the  brothers  in  Macedonia  was  abandoned  for  the 
frank  confession  of  a  desire  for  an  extension  of 
territory.  There  was  no  need  to  free  Macedonia 
from  the  Turks — time  was  doing  that — but  each 
one  of  the  three  Allies  hastened  to  save  as  much  of 
it  as  he  could  from  his  two  partners  in  the  enter- 
prise, for  it  was  obvious  to  all  of  them  that  the 
Young  Turks  had  given  the  final  blow  to  the 
empire  of  Turkey  in  Europe.  We  heard  nothing 
more  of  the  absurd  proposal  to  erect  an  autonomous 
Macedonia  with  a  Prince  and  parliament  of  its 
own.  The  Allies  at  once  partitioned  it  on  paper, 
and  the  fury  of  the  second  Balkan  War  between 
the  four  Allies  showed  the  lengths  to  which  their 
land-hunger  carried  them.  Europe  definitely  de- 
cided that  there  shall  be  a  principality  of  Albania, 
and  the  Allies  did  not  dare  to  give  a  point-blank 
refusal.  But  they  drew  an  Albania  on  the  map 
which  would  shut  the  Albanians  in  to  the  narrow 
mountains  and  the  poorest  strip  of  seaboard,  and 
they  advanced  many  plausible  reasons,  ethnological, 
geographical  and  historical,  why  the  ancient  race 


208  ALBANIA 

should  yield  its  towns  and  lowlands  to  the  Slav 
and  the  Greek,  and  go  starve  on  a  ridge  of  sterile 
crags  until  a  cheap  process  of  extermination  by 
hunger  has  made  the  time  ripe  for  a  final  partition 
of  the  stony  ground  of  an  abortive  principality.  In 
any  case,  by  the  di\'ision  of  Macedonia,  Albania 
will  be  shut  in  on  the  north  and  east  by  Slavs  and 
on  the  south  by  Greece,  and  the  scheme  of  the 
allies  was  to  draw  the  boundaries  so  close  that  she 
would  be  strangled  from  the  start. 

There  were  three  Albanias  in  the  market  for 
Europe  to  choose  from,  and  it  is  well  to  note  what 
they  were.  First  there  was  the  scheme  of  the 
Provisional  Government  of  Albania  under  Ismail 
Kemal  Bey  of  Avlona,  which  demanded  all  the 
lands  in  the  west  of  the  Balkan  peninsula  that  are 
inhabited  by  a  majority  of  Albanians  and  were  till 
recently  under  the  rule  of  the  Sultan.  The  boun- 
dary was  easily  followed  on  any  map.  From  the 
Boiana  it  kept  to  the  present  Montenegrin  frontier 
on  the  north  till  it  reached  the  Sandjak  of  Novi- 
bazar,  south  of  Berane,  whence  it  followed  the 
course  of  the  river  I  bar  to  Mitrovitza,  the  terminus 
of  the  railway  running  north  from  Salonica.  It  took 
in  the  famous  plain  of  Kossovopolje,  to  which  the 
Serbs  have  a  sentimental  claim  as  it  was  there  that 
the  Serbian  kingdom  was  finally  defeated  and  the 
Czar  Lazar  slain  by  the  Sultan  Murad  on  June  15, 


CUTTING  OUT  THE  NEW  KINGDOM    209 

1389.  But  the  Albanians  have  also  a  sentimental 
claim  to  the  field,  for  not  only  did  a  contingent  of 
them  fight  against  the  Turks  as  allies  of  the  Serbs, 
but  Kara  Mahmoud  Pasha  of  Scodra,  the  semi- 
independent  ruler  of  North  Albania,  defeated  the 
Sultan's  army  there  in  178G.  The  boundary  in- 
cluded the  railway  line  as  far  south  as  Koprulu, 
taking  in  Ferizovich,  where  the  Albanian  tribes 
proclaimed  their  independence  on  July  15,  1908, 
and  Uskub,  whose  inhabitants  are  in  the  great 
majority  JNIoslem  Albanians,  with  about  twenty- 
five  per  cent,  of  Bulgarians  and  seven  per  cent,  of 
Servians.  The  town  was  taken  over  in  April, 
1912,  by  the  Albanians  from  the  Turkish  govern- 
ment, and  captured  by  the  Servian  army  on 
October  26,  in  the  same  year.  From  Koprulu  the 
Albanian  Provisional  Government's  boundary  ran 
south  to  the  angle  of  the  JNlonastir  railway  near 
Fiorina,  between  Lakes  Presba  and  Ostrovo,  and 
then  struck  east,  leaving  out  Kastoria,  to  a  point 
nearly  south  of  Lake  Presba,  whence  it  ran  due 
south  to  the  Greek  frontier. 

This  attempt  at  the  delimitation  of  the  boun- 
daries would  no  doubt  have  been  accepted  by 
Europe  if  the  ^Vlbanians  were  strong  enough  or 
popular  enough  to  command  a  propaganda  such  as 
has  been  worked  by  the  friends  of  the  Greeks,  the 
Bulgarians  and  the  Servians,  for  it  included  the 

P 


210  ALBANIA 

country  in  which  the  Albanians  are  undoubtedly  in 
the  majority,  and  in  which  the  other  nationalities 
have  only  maintained  themselves  by  the  most 
unscrupulous  religious  and  political  intrigues. 
Religion  is  not  the  Albanians'  strong  point.  They 
are  Moslem,  Orthodox,  and  Latin,  and  usually 
opportunists,  with  little  or  no  organisation.  But 
the  Greeks  have  a  magnificent  organisation  which 
dates  from  the  Byzantine  Empire,  and  ever  since 
the  Turkish  occupation  has  wielded  powers  second 
only  to  those  of  the  Sultan  and  the  Porte.  With 
the  Greeks  religion  almost  took  the  place  of 
nationality,  and  Greek  means,  and  has  meant  for 
centuries,  not  so  much  those  of  Hellenic  birth,  as 
those  of  the  Greek  or  Orthodox  faith.  This  was 
the  strength  of  the  Phanariots,  and  the  lazy  toler- 
ance of  the  Turks  allowed  the  Orthodox  Church  to 
become  an  empire  within  an  empire.  Until  com- 
paratively recent  times  Servians,  Bulgarians,  and 
South  Albanians  were  all  massed  together  in  the 
European  mind  as  Greeks,  because  they  were  under 
the  Greek  Patriarch,  and  it  was  not  until  modern 
Servia  began  to  emerge  under  Kara  George,  who 
was  by  no  means  a  religious  leader,  that  the  West 
awoke  to  the  fact  that  there  were  other  nationaUties 
than  the  Greek  under  Turkish  rule.  As  for  the 
Bulgars,  they  were  even  more  completely  forgotten 
than  the  Serbs,  though  nowadays  with  the  armies 


ti.t<f.  17.  18. 


RATA  MAT0AION. 


51 


OYX'.TTpOV,      xal      to      TtpoJTOV     O'j/ijltOV, 

TO  dTopa  ojTOj,  OiXe'.s  eupe".  aTi-rfipa- 
^xeTvov  Xaftjv    26?   el;   autou;   oi'  eue 


xal  ci. 


Ee 


'f  •  t^i- 


1  'EN  exttvT)  TTi  uip:^  ^),9ov  ol  [la- 
GjjTal  Ttpo;  Tov  'Ir,aouv,  XiyovTe;,  Tt; 
opa  Eivai  [jL6ya).T'|-:Epo;  £v  fri  Pao-iXelff 

2  Tuv  oupavuiv;  Kil  •itpoa;<aXiiTas  A  'It,- 
aou;  TxaiSlov  eoniffev  auTO  ev  T(j)  [id- 

3  HI))  auTtJV,  xal  elitcv,  'A).r,9(I)s  sa; 
^.^yu),  tav  Set  eTT'.aTpd'|r,Te,  xal  yttvr.te 
<!)?  ti  TiaiSia,  8sv  Or/eTC  elu^XSei  el; 

4  "CTiV  Pa<n)v£Cav  tijv  ojpavuv.  Oo'T'.; 
Xo'.itov  TaneivutjT)  iauTOv  w;  to  Ttai- 
Siov  TOuTO,   ouTo;  elvai  6  (ASYaXViTepo; 

5  ev  TT)  PaTiXetqi  t<jv  oupavijiv  xal  5- 
OT'.;  Sej^fl-p  6v  toioutov    TtaiSbv  el;  to 

6  ovojii  [jiou,  ty.e  Sf^eTai.  "Oort;  0[ji(j)i; 
ffxavSa).'<TTj  £va  TijJv  [Aixptljv  tojtuv 
TiJv  -K'.iTTeudvTUv  el;  sjii,  »u|jitp^p£i  el; 
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Tov  Tpo^T.Xov  auTOu,  xal  va  xaTanov- 
titStJ  el;    t6  niXayo;    tt,;  fiaXatro'i'i;. 

7  Oual  ei;  t4v  x6(r[iov  Sii  Ta  <Txiv- 
OaXa*  S'.OTi  elvai  avayxy;  vi  D.Ouut 
Ta  (TxavSaXa'  tiXtiv  oual  el;  tov  av- 
6p<i)7xov    exelvov,    8ia    tou    iuoiou    to 

8  ffxavoaXov  ep^eTat.  Kal  eav  i\  velp 
eou  Y)  i  i:ou;  aou  ue  axavSaXl^T),  ex- 
xoij/ov  auTa,  xal  ilij/ov  airo  ctou.  xa- 
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Cuo  yelpa;  r,  £jo  zooa;  va  i'.<pSr;;  el; 

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xal  ^i<}iov  aito  uou*  xaXriTepov  joi  elvai 


vype  TTEffxSv'  £  uap§  x£  T£  ofiXj: 
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t'  axi,  eSe  x§  xp£C£X5  \dt  ipb'vx  xe 

ofEXlX. 

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TtiTE  £(7X5  VE?q;'5  X5   fiivjvs    oocavSa- 

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JEX5X  I  XJaAj  a  dopi-a,  at  xe 
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vrfE  XE  o"xavOaX'.OT5  o-jp'.  ux,  vrfcrtp-E 
ax£,    £  yjoE     rpEi  xe/'e:     (j.e     fAipi 


THK    GOSPEL    OF   ST.    M.VTTHEW. 

In  Groek  .and  Alb;iiiian.     This  is  one  of  the  means  for  tiirnini,'  Alhanians  into 
Greeks  in  Southern  Albania. 


CUTTING  OUT  THE  NEW  KINGDOM    211 

of  the  Czar  Ferdinand  at  bay  against  the  Balkan 
world,  it  seems  almost  incredible  that  for  cen- 
turies the  Bulgarian  nationality  was  nothing  but  a 
vague  memory  in  Europe. 

But  even  before  the  Bulgarian  atrocity  agitation 
the  leading  men  among  the  Bulgarians  had  recog- 
nised the  correct  line  of  policy,  and  had  realised 
that  the  Greek  Church  and  the  Patriarch  at 
Constantinople  were  more  powerful  levers  than 
any  mere  political  organisation  could  be.  There- 
fore they  worked  for  the  establishment  of  a  Bul- 
garian Church  free  from  the  control  of  the  Patriarch, 
and  in  1870  the  Bulgarian  Exarchate  was  founded 
by  the  permission  of  the  Sultan.  From  that  date 
the  advance  of  Bulgaria  was  rapid,  owing  to  the 
establishment  of  churches  and  schools.  Greece 
and  Servia  took  alarm,  but  Servia  was  too  late  to 
stand  in  line  with  her  two  rivals.  These  hostile 
Churches  were  the  cause  of  the  recent  disturbances 
in  Macedonia.  Greeks  and  Bulgarians  especially 
"  converted  "  the  villages  with  fire  and  sword,  and 
in  Macedonia  and  all  along  the  Albanian  frontier 
it  must  never  be  forgotten,  in  dealing  with  the 
boundary  question,  that  Greek,  Bulgarian  and 
Servian  mean  the  adherents  of  the  Orthodox 
Church  in  those  countries,  and  not  necessarily  men 
of  those  nationalities.  This  is  where  the  Albanians 
have  the  disadvantage,  and  in  addition  they  have 


212  ALBANIA 

the  further  misfortune  that  Moslem  Albanians  are 
always  known  as  Turks,  which  most  emphatically 
they  are  not.  Thus,  in  Southern  Albania  statistics 
show  that  so  many  thousand  inhabitants  are 
Turks,  and  so  many  thousand  are  Greeks,  whereas 
really  the  men  so  classified  are  almost  all  Albanians 
of  the  JVIoslem  or  Orthodox  belief.  This  is  so 
convenient  a  method  of  gulling  Europe  that  it  is 
never  likely  to  be  abandoned  by  those  who  profit 
by  it.  Occasionally  race  and  religion  tally,  but  in 
the  majority  of  cases  what  is  indicated  is  the  form 
of  religion  and  not  the  race,  and  the  Albanians, 
who  have  no  Patriarch,  no  Exarch,  no  schools  and 
no  propaganda,  suffer  from  their  lack  of  organisation 
and  of  the  first  principles  of  scientific  advertising. 

It  is  therefore  most  improbable  that  the  final 
boundaries  of  the  new  state  will  be  drawn  so  as  to 
include  all  the  lands  inhabited  by  the  Albanians. 
Four  modern  kingdoms  surround  the  territory  of 
the  descendants  of  the  ancient  Thrako-IUyrian 
tribes,  each  one  hungering  for  a  bite  out  of  the  all 
too  poverty-stricken  plains  owned  by  the  people 
of  the  hills.  All  four  have  in  varying  degree  got 
the  ear  of  Europe ;  all  have  clever  spokesmen  and 
advocates  of  their  own  and  foreign  countries  though 
the  Bulgarians,  owing  to  their  greed,  have  been 
driven  away  from  the  front  by  their  former  friends. 
The  Albanians,  who  since  the  coming  of  the  Turks 


CUTTING  OUT  THE  NEW  KINGDOM    213 

have  given  some  of  their  most  briUiant  statesmen  to 
Turkey,  Italy  and  Greece,  have  to  fight  their  own 
battle  with  the  tongue  and  pen,  weapons  to  which 
at  home  they  are  ill-accustomed.  Even  the  powerful 
advocacy  of  Austria  does  not  stand  them  in  good 
stead  as  the  rest  of  Europe  suspects  that  it  is 
actuated,  not  so  much  by  the  principles  of  abstract 
justice,  as  by  the  desire  to  prevent  the  Near  East 
from  becoming  entirely  Slavised.  However,  since 
Europe  decided  upon  the  creation  of  an  autono- 
mous Albania  the  Allies,  who  are  admirable 
diplomatists,  adopted  the  less  heroic  policy  of 
attempting  to  strangle  the  infant  state  at  birth,  by 
doing  their  utmost  to  confine  it  to  the  barren  rocks 
and  swampy  sea  coast  which,  with  the  possible 
exception  of  Durazzo,  no  one  on  earth  covets,  so 
wild  and  stern  are  they. 

Confident  in  the  ignorance  and  heedlessness  of 
AVestern  Europe,  the  Allies  proposed  to  depri\'e 
Albania  of  all  that  is  most  distinctly  Albanian. 
Even  the  birthplace  of  George  Castriot,  Scander- 
beg,  was  not  to  be  left  to  the  people  at  whose  head 
he  defeated  Pashas  and  Sultans  for  years,  unaided 
and  unsupported  by  Christian  Europe ;  even  the 
ruined  Castle  of  Lek  Dukajini,  the  prince  who 
codified  the  ancient  laws  and  customs  of  the 
mountains ;  even  the  homes  of  Ali  Pasha  of 
Yanina  and  of  Kara  JNlahmoud  Pasha  of  Scodra, 


214.  ALBANIA 

were  not  to  be  included  in  the  official  Albania  if 
the  allies  could  have  their  way.  All  were  to  be 
Iianded  over  to  Slav  or  Greek,  and  Albania  was 
to  be  made  into  a  state  in  name  only,  shorn  of 
everything  which  could  enable  it  to  live  as  an 
independent  and  self-governing  principality.  The 
frontier  which  the  united  intellect  or  cunning  of 
the  four  kingdoms  devised  will  not  take  long  to 
delimit.  Hitherto  the  Black  Drin  has  been  con- 
sidered by  the  most  Slavophil  boundary-monger 
to  be  the  meanest  Umit  of  Albania  to  the  north, 
and  the  river  Kalamas  to  the  south  by  the  Phil- 
hellenes.  But  even  those  poor  boundaries  were 
now  considered  too  generous  by  the  ambitious 
Allies.  On  the  north  the  frontier  proposed  by  the 
Montenegrins  started  from  the  Adriatic  sea  coast 
at  the  mouth  of  the  river  Mati,  about  half-way 
between  Alessio  and  Cape  Rodoni,  and  then  went 
north  and  north-east  nearly  to  the  Drin,  depriving 
Albania  of  Scodra  its  northern  capital,  which 
is  inhabited  solely  by  Shkypetars,  and  of  all 
the  plain  surrounding  it,  of  the  Malissori  moun- 
tains which  are  inhabited  by  Albanian  Roman 
Catholic  tribes  and  certain  tribes  half  Roman 
Catholic  and  half  Moslem,  of  the  Moslem  tribes  of 
the  Dukajini  and  Liuma,  and  of  Ipek,  Jacovo  and 
Prisrend,  in  all  of  which  the  Moslem  Albanians 
are  in  an  immense  majority.     Albania  was  thus  to 


CUTTING  OUT  THE  NEW  KINGDOM    215 

be  deprived  of  the  Drin  which  is  its  principal 
river,  and  of  lands  in  which  there  are  but  few 
Slavs  of  any  sort.  Montenegro  did  not  even 
pretend  that  she  went  to  war  to  h  berate  brother 
Serbs  under  Turkisli  rule,  but  openly  declared  that 
she  would  disappear  as  a  political  factor  in  the 
Balkans  rather  than  renounce  the  annexation  of 
territory  inhabited  by  men  of  utterly  different  race 
and  religion,  who  have  always  hated  the  Slav  even 
more  than  the  Turk. 

The  Servians  and  Bulgarians  were  equally 
preposterous  in  their  demands.  They  claimed  the 
entire  upper  and  middle  course  of  the  Drin,  in- 
cluding the  watershed  on  the  east  of  the  mountains 
of  Central  Albania  down  to  the  mountains  west  of 
Lake  Ochrida.  Their  suggested  boundary  thus  cut 
Albania  in  two,  annexed  districts  purely  Albanian 
or  in  which  Shkypetars  are  in  a  majority,  and 
deprived  the  new  state  of  any  outlet  to  the  hinter- 
land on  the  east.  The  three  Slav  kingdoms  were 
agreed  in  lopping  off  the  most  valuable  part  of 
Albania,  but  when  the  spoil  came  to  be  divided 
two  of  the  momentary  Allies  quarrelled  bitterly. 
They  all  claimed  the  right  to  annex  Ipek,  Jacovo 
and  Prisrend,  but  Servia  had  special  claims  on  the 
latter  city  as  it  was  once  the  capital  of  the  empire 
of  Dushan.  Moreover,  Bulgaria  and  Servia  dis- 
puted not  only  both  banks  of  the  Drin,  but  also 


21G  ALBANIA 

Dibra,  which  is  about  three  quarters  Albanian  and 
the  rest  Bulgarian ;  Ochrida  and  Presba ;  and 
INIonastir  where  the  population  is  Albanian,  Greek 
and  Bulgarian,  but  not  Servian.  The  events  of 
last  summer,  however,  disposed  of  the  claims  of 
Bulgaria,  and  left  many  thousands  of  Bulgarians  in 
Greek  and  Servian  hands.  The  Greeks  were  no 
less  exacting  than  their  alhes.  They  claimed 
Avlona,  but  as  Italy  too  has  an  eye  on  the 
Albanian  coast  they  drew  their  provisional  line 
from  Gramala,  a  point  on  the  shore  half-way 
between  Dukali  and  Khimara,  and  thence  east  to 
the  fork  of  the  river  Voiussa  near  Klissura,  leaving 
Tepelen  to  Albania.  Thence  the  line  went  north- 
east by  north  to  the  proposed  Servian  line  south- 
west of  lake  Ochrida,  cutting  off  from  the  new 
state  country  that  is  purely  Albanian  as  well  as 
some  districts  in  which  the  population  is  mixed. 
Even  if  the  Greek  line  were  drawn  much  further 
to  the  south-east  it  would  still  amputate  territories 
in  which  the  majority  of  the  inhabitants  are 
Albanian  but  are  called  Greek  because  they  belong 
to  the  Greek  or  Orthodox  Church.  A  glance  at 
the  map  will  show  that  the  frontier  which  was 
suggested  by  the  allies  confined  the  Albanians  to 
the  west  of  the  mountains  which  form  the  central 
backbone  of  the  country,  and  to  the  narrow  strip 
between  those  mountains  and  the  sea.     This  piece 


CUTTING  OUT  THE  NEW  KINGDOM    217 

of  waste  land  contains  no  river  of  any  importance, 
only  three  towns  wliich  are  better  than  villages, 
and  the  decayed  ports  of  Durazzo  and  Avlona 
which  might  be  made  much  of,  but  which,  in 
default  of  any  possible  trade  from  the  swamps  and 
mountains  immediately  behind  them,  would  have 
existed  as  dying  harbours  watching  the  trade  of 
the  Balkans  going  north  and  south  of  them,  and 
rigorously  prohibited  by  Slav  and  Greek  from  any 
participation  in  the  business  and  traffic  of  the 
hinterland. 

There  remained  the  frontier  proposed  by 
Austria,  which,  if  not  generous  to  Albania,  was 
at  least  more  just  than  that  of  the  allies.  Imputing 
motives  to  Austria  is  an  inconsequent  sort  of  argu- 
ment for  the  friends  of  the  Slav  to  use  against  the 
Albanian.  It  is  an  axiom  among  us  that  all  foreign 
nations  are  swayed  entirely  by  self-interest,  but 
charity  would  admit  that  Austria  and  Italy,  who  in 
a  less  degree  supports  the  Albanian  nationality, 
are  not  actuated  by  selfishness  to  a  greater  extent 
than  any  one  else,  and  that  if  they  show  more 
interest  in  the  Shkypetar  it  may  be  because  they 
are  the  only  two  European  nations  who  have  a 
real  and  intimate  knowledge  of  the  ancient  people. 
The  Austrian  line  deserved  to  be  studied  with  care 
and  without  prejudice,  for  Austrian  officers  have 
surveyed  the  country  as  far  as  it  has  been  mapped 


218  ALBANIA 

out,  and  Austria  has  been  the  protector  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  tribes  in  the  days  when  they 
needed  a  protector  from  the  Turk  and  not  from 
the  Orthodox  Christian.  It  is  the  provisional 
frontier  traced  by  more  or  less  disinterested  ex- 
perts, and  was  a  compromise  between  the  line 
drawn  by  Ismail  Kemal  Bey  on  the  one  hand,  and 
the  draughtsman  of  the  alhes  on  the  other.  It 
followed  the  existing  frontier  on  the  Montenegrin 
border  as  far  as  a  point  north  of  Gussigne-Plava, 
where  it  made  a  sudden  loop  to  the  south  to  in- 
clude those  two  places  in  Montenegro. 

But  the  irony  of  the  situation  in  this  part  of 
the  world  is  that  while  Austria  very  justly  opposed 
the  cession  of  purely  Albanian  districts  to  Monte- 
negro, she  at  the  same  time  could  suggest  no  com- 
pensation to  King  Nicolas,  for  she  even  more 
vigorously  opposed  his  more  legitimate  expansion 
to  the  north  in  the  Herzegovina,  which  by  all  the 
principles  of  nationalism  belongs  to  Montenegro. 
There  is  no  difference  whatever  from  the  racial 
and  geographical  point  of  view  between  Monte- 
negro and  the  Herzegovina,  and  Cattaro  is  the 
natural  port  of  the  little  kingdom  by  which  it  was 
formerly  owned.  The  King  only  asked  for  the 
Malissori  mountains  of  North  Albania  because  he 
knows  that  as  long  as  Austria  exists  he  can  never 
get  Cattaro  and  the  Herzegovina,  the  district  from 


CUTTING  OUT  THE  NEW  KINGDOM   219 

which  his  family  and  that  of  many  of  the  Monte- 
negrins originally  came.  Thus  blocked  to  the 
north  and  the  south,  the  saying  which  came  into 
vogue  in  Cettigne  after  the  Russo-Turkish  war — 
Austria  is  the  enemy,  not  Turkey — has  now  ac- 
quired an  added  significance.  From  Gussigne- 
Plava  the  Austrian  line  ran  to  the  north  to  keep 
Ipek,  Jacovo,  and  Prisrend  in  Albania,  but  it  left 
to  the  Slav  the  district  known  as  Old  Serbia  which 
is  inhabited  almost  entirely  by  Albanians,  and 
took  from  the  new  state  Kossovopolje,  Ferizovich, 
Uskub,  and  all  the  adjacent  lands.  From  the 
summit  of  the  Shah  Dagh  just  east  of  Prisrend, 
the  proposed  frontier  ran  almost  due  south  between 
Lakes  Ochrida  and  Presba,  giving  Dibra  and  the 
whole  valley  of  the  Black  Drin  to  Albania,  but 
omitting  the  districts  to  the  east,  where  the  Alba- 
nians are  either  in  the  majority  or  in  a  very  strong 
minority.  South  of  Lake  Presba  the  line  trends 
a  Uttle  to  the  east,  following  the  Albanian  claim 
very  closely,  and  reached  the  Greek  frontier  sUghtly 
to  the  east  of  Mecovon  at  the  frontier  of  the  late 
Pashaliks  of  Yanina  and  Monastir. 

This  scheme  was  doubtless  the  most  workable 
of  the  three  put  forward.  If  it  excluded  many 
thousand  Albanians  from  the  state,  it  at  least  gave 
the  new  principality  room  to  breathe  and  a  chance 
of  living,  which  the  proposal  of  the  Allies  most 


220  ALBANIA 

certainly  did  not,  and  on  the  other  hand  it  lessened 
the  chances  of  everlasting  quarrels  and  feuds  which 
would  probably  have  occurred  if  the  Albanian  line 
had  been  adopted  in  its  entirety,  with  its  inclusion 
of  places  which  have  historic  memories  for  the 
Serbs,  but  for  the  Albanians  little  besides  the 
prosaic  interest  of  actual  possession.  Roughly 
speaking,  the  adoption  of  the  Austrian  proposal 
would  have  meant  a  state  about  midway  between 
the  existing  kingdoms  of  Servia  and  Montenegro 
in  size  and  population,  with  an  area  of  about 
fourteen  thousand  square  miles  and  a  population 
of  a  million  and  a  half  This  would  have  given  it 
a  fair  chance  of  existence,  and  it  would  have  had 
the  great  advantage  over  its  rivals  and  neighbours 
of  possessing  an  extensive  seaboard  and  at  least 
two  harbours,  which,  though  almost  derelict,  are 
capable  of  being  turned  into  serviceable  ports. 
Some  four  hundred  thousand  Albanians  would 
have  been  left  in  Slav  or  Greek  hands,  and  that 
would  have  been  poorly  compensated  by  the  in- 
clusion of  about  a  hundred  thousand  men  of  alien 

blood. 

The  Austrian  scheme  was  doubtless  the  most 
workable  of  those  put  forward  for  Europe's  con- 
sideration, but  the  Powers  in  tracing  their  pro- 
visional frontier  did  not  think  fit  to  adopt  it. 
Evidently  they  thought  it  more  dignified  to  draw 


CUTTING  OUT  THE  NEW  KINGDOM    221 

a  line  of  their  own,  and  as  far  as  they  have  decided 
on   the   boundary  they   have   leaned  towards  the 
Slav   and   against   the   Albanian.      The   Austrian 
line  was  drawn  half-way  between  those  of  the  AlUes 
and  of  the  Albanian  Provisional  Government,  and 
the  Great  Powers   appear   to   have   compromised 
with  la  dehmitation  half-way  between  the  proposal 
of  the  Austrians  and  that  of  the  Allies.     On  no 
other  theory  can  the  provisional  frontier  have  been 
drawn,  as  within  it  no  Slavs  are  included,  whereas 
thousands  of  Albanians  are  left  outside  it  to  the 
tender  mercies  of  their  worst  enemies.     The  boun- 
dary accepted  in  principle  by  the  Powers  goes  a 
Uttle  further  up  the  Boiana  than  the  present  fron- 
tier,  and   strikes   inland   at   a   stream  just  below 
Corica,  where  it  divides  the  district  of  Anamaht, 
which  is  entirely  Mahometan  Albanian,  and  reaches 
the  lake  just  west  of  Zogai.     The  line  then  crosses 
the  lake  to  the  inlets  of  Kastrati  and  Hoti,  and 
runs  north-east  to  the  present  frontier,  leaving  the 
Hoti  and  Gruda  tribes  in  Montenegro,  and  Kas- 
trati, Shkreli,  and  Klementi  in  Albania.     Hoti  is  a 
Roman  Catholic  tribe  of  purely  Albanian  origin. 
It  has   always   been  considered  the  chief  of  the 
Malissori  tribes,  and  in  war-time  marches  at  the 
head  of  the  confederation.     King  Nicolas  has  of 
late  years  taken  great  pains  to  win  this  important 
tribe  over  from  the  Turks  and  with  considerable 


222  ALBANIA 

success,  but  whether  it  will  be  content  to  be- 
come absorbed  in  Montenegro  and  see  the  Kle- 
menti  and  Kastrati  forming  part  of  an  independent 
Albania  is  another  matter. 

As  in  the  Austrian  scheme  the  boundary  then 
makes  a  trend  to  the  south,  and  includes  Gussigne 
and  Plava  in  Montenegro.  These  places  are  in- 
habited by  fanatical  Mahometans  not  of  pure 
Shkypetar  extraction,  and  Albania  can  well  do 
without  them.  But  then  the  boundary  bends 
south-east,  leaving  out  Ipek,  Jacovo,  and  Prisrend, 
all  of  which  are  inhabited  by  a  great  majority  of 
Albanians,  and  from  a  point  a  few  miles  west  of 
Prisrend  runs  due  south,  leaving  Dibra,  with  its 
mixed  population  of  Albanians  and  Bulgarians,  to 
Servia ;  and  then  following  the  Drin  to  the  stream 
Pishkupstina,  whence  it  keeps  to  the  hill-tops  on 
the  west  until  it  strikes  Lake  Ochrida  at  Lin, 
near  the  monastery  of  San  Nicolo.  In  South 
Albania  the  line  will  leave  Yanina  to  Greece,  and 
drive  out  of  the  new  state  thousands  of  Albanians 
who  are  called  Greeks  because  they  belong  to  the 
Orthodox  Church.  From  the  cynical  way  in 
which  large  populations  of  Albanians  are  ignored 
and  handed  over  to  their  hereditary  enemies,  it 
is  obvious  that  the  Great  Powers  are  not  over- 
anxious to  found  an  Albanian  principality  which 
could  have  a  reasonable  chance  of  success.     The 


CUTTING  OUT  THE  NEW  KINGDOM   22.3 

nascent  Albania  is  cut  down  to  a  minimum,  and 
if  Europe  had  wished  to  make  the  new  state 
dependent  on  Austria  or  Italy,  she  could  hardly 
have  set  about  it  more  effectually.  The  only 
thing  to  be  said  for  the  scheme  is  that  it  includes 
Scodra  and  the  Drin  in  the  principality,  but  the 
thousands  of  Albanians  who  are  left  outside  cannot 
be  expected  to  acquiesce  in  their  exclusion.  There 
is  not  much  future  for  an  Albania  of  this  sort,  but 
the  Shkypetars  are  a  dogged  race  who  have  sur- 
vived many  tyrants,  though  so  far  they  have  only 
had  to  face  death  by  the  sword,  and  not  strangu- 
lation by  the  red  tape  of  a  bureaucracy.  Unfor- 
tunately, the  Slav  is  not  as  the  Turk,  and  the 
Powers  are  unlikely  to  follow  the  precedent  of 
Eastern  Rumelia,  and  permit  at  some  future  time 
the  incorporation  of  Albania  Irredenta  in  the 
foundling  state  of  Europe. 


XVI 


THE    FUTURE   OF    ALBANIA 


Hope  for  the  future  of  the  httle  kingdom  lies  in 
the  fact  that  the  Albanian,  though  a  warrior  and 
a  man  who  prefers  to  go  always  armed,  is,  unlike 
the  JMontenegrin,  a  hard  worker.  Even  now  in 
Cettigne  nearly  all  the  trade  and  industry  of  the 
capital  is  in  his  hands,  and  among  his  own  barren 
mountains  he  is  a  first-rate  shepherd  and,  where 
he  has  the  opportunity  and  the  soil,  a  skilful  agri- 
culturist. In  the  towns  he  excels  as  an  artificer, 
armourer,  and  maker  of  fine  stuffs.  The  Albanian 
zarfs,  or  coffee-cup  holders,  of  silver  filigree  are 
celebrated  all  over  the  Near  East  for  their  beau- 
tiful and  dehcate  workmanship,  and  the  skill  of 
the  townsman  in  manufacturing  and  ornamenting 
pistols  and  yataghans  is  known  to  every  traveller. 
Pistol-barrels  and  sword-blades  inlaid  with  gold, 
and  pistol  and  gun  butts  inlaid  with  silver,  prove 
that  the  Albanian  has  not  only  skill,  but  taste  and 
artistry ;  and  though  a  state  cannot  live  on  such 
products  alone,  these  wares  give  evidence  that  the 


THE   FUTURE   OF   ALBANIA      225 

soul  of  the  people  is  not  dead  within  them.  Pris- 
rend  is  one  of  the  great  centres  of  ^Vlhanian  gun- 
smiths' work,  and  some  years  ago  there  was  still 
living  in  that  town  an  armourer  who  had  exhibited 
inlaid  pistols  at  the  Great  Exhibition  of  1851  in 
Hyde  Park. 

The  future  of  a  state,  whether  of  old  growth  or 
of  new  creation,  lies  in  its  commerce  and  indus- 
tries, and  of  these  Albania  has  little  to  show  at 
present.  Its  commerce  is  next  to  non-existent 
and  its  industries  are  of  the  poorest.  Within  the 
limits  traced  by  the  Austrian  geographers  there  is 
not  a  single  line  of  railway,  and  the  roads  which 
are  marked  on  the  staff  map  need  to  be  ridden 
over  to  be  justly  appreciated.  A  slight  improve- 
ment has  been  made  during  the  last  quarter  of  a 
century,  and  wheeled  conveyances  are  now  to  be 
met  with  in  cities  where  their  appearance  would 
have  caused  a  riot  in  the  last  century.  Moreover, 
Albanians  have  taken  to  travelling  in  Europe  to  a 
much  greater  extent,  and  for  years  past  the  more 
intelligent  men  in  the  towns  have  been  waiting 
grimly  and  patiently  for  the  time  when  their  inde- 
pendence from  Turk  and  Slav  shall  enable  them  to 
prove  themselves  Europeans.  These  men  at  first 
believed  that  the  "  Constitution "  of  the  Young 
Tiu'ks  was  the  dawn  of  the  new  era ;  but  they 
were  soon  undeceived,  and  their  chiefs  have  now 

Q 


226  ALBANIA 

got  a  sound  and  clear  idea  of  the  situation.  Three 
lines  of  railway  are  absolutely  needed.  The  first 
from  Scodra,  up  the  valley  of  the  Drin  to  Prisrend, 
INIitrovitza,  and  Uskub,  with  a  branch  line  running 
north  to  Jacovo,  Ipek,  and  Novibazar,  and  another 
branch  line  south  to  Dibra  and  Ochrida.  Secondly, 
a  line  through  Central  Albania  from  Durazzo, 
Elbassan,  and  Ochrida,  to  join  the  existing  terminus 
at  Monastir  ;  and  thirdly,  a  line  from  Yanina  to 
the  railhead  at  Kalabaka,  to  join  the  Greek  system, 
with  extensions  to  Previsa,  Avlona,  and  Monastir. 
These  railways  would  thoroughly  open  up  Albania, 
allow  capital  to  be  introduced  to  exploit  her  timber 
trade  and  her  mineral  wealth,  which  is  said  to  be 
enormous,  and  would  bring  down  the  trade  of  the 
hinterland  to  the  Adriatic  ports.  All  these  lines 
could  not  be  built  at  once,  but  roads  should  be 
improved  or  laid  down  so  as  to  allow  of  motor 
traffic,  such  as  has  been  introduced  into  Monte- 
negro, to  begin  the  opening  up  of  the  country.  In 
fact,  as  for  some  years  the  trade  of  the  state  will 
be  miserably  small,  a  service  of  motors  would  be 
quite  sufficient  for  the  present,  and  would  enable  a 
start  to  be  made  on  a  small  scale  pending  the  con- 
struction of  the  railways. 

The  first  thing  to  be  considered  in  estimating 
the  wealth  of  a  country  is  the  table  of  imports  and 
exports,  and  under  Turkish  rule  those  of  Albania 


THE   FUTURE   OF    ALBANIA      227 

were  negligible.  Scodra,  the  capital  of  the  north, 
exported  little  but  a  few  skins  and  some  sumach, 
though  it  was  the  headquarters  of  the  silkworm 
industry  of  the  district,  and  grows  excellent  tobacco 
and  wine  in  the  plains  of  the  Kiri  and  Zadrima. 
Durazzo  did  some  trade  in  wood  and  charcoal,  and 
Prevesa,  which  tapped  South  Albania  as  well  as 
Northern  Greece,  exported  cattle,  charcoal,  cheese, 
fish-roes,  olives,  and  skins,  and  a  little  timber  and 
corn  was  sent  out  from  Avlona  and  elsewhere. 
Altogether  it  was  a  miserable  foundation  on  which 
to  build  the  prosperity  of  a  nascent  state.  But 
hitherto  the  Albanian  has  been  self-supporting. 
He  has  grown  enough  for  himself,  and  has  shown 
no  desire  and  no  ability  to  export  goods  of  which 
he  produces  a  superfluity  to  pay  for  goods  which 
he  can  buy  abroad  more  easily  than  he  can  make 
them  at  home.  He  has  been  a  man  of  few  wants, 
and  it  would  no  doubt  be  for  his  happiness  could 
he  be  properly  policed  and  so  be  given  leisure  to 
provide  for  his  simple  necessities  in  the  security 
which  so  far  he  has  never  enjoyed.  That  was  at 
the  bottom  of  the  wish  of  some  Albanian  notables 
who  had  visited  Egypt,  and  had  noted  the  great 
change  that  has  been  wrought  there,  that  Great 
Britain  could  be  induced  to  undertake  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  country. 

But  the  Albanians  will  have  to  shoulder  their 


228  ALBANIA 

own  burden,  and  the  future  of  the  state  as  a  wealth 
producer  depends  in  a  large  degree  on  the  proper 
exploitation  of  her  timber  and  mineral  resources. 
To  ensure  that,  the  mountaineers  will  have  to  relax 
their  attitude  of  suspicion  and  defiance  towards 
strangers,  and  to  refrain  from  looking  on  the  Euro- 
pean who  would  open  up  the  country  as  a  robber 
who  must  be  shot  at  the  first  convenient  oppor- 
tunity. It  will  take  some  considerable  time  to 
imbue  the  Shkypetar  with  a  wholesome  respect  for 
the  Limited  Company  and  its  Promoter,  but  when 
the  lesson  of  civihsation  is  learned,  the  minerals  as 
yet  untouched  will  bring  fabulous  prosperity  to  the 
now  barren  mountains. 

Except  in  the  towns  and  plains  where  the  Turks 
have  had  Vali  Pashas,  Mutesarrifs,  and  Kaimakams, 
with  a  plentiful  backing  of  soldiers,  the  Albanians 
have  always  governed  themselves,  and  even  now 
the  ancient  laws  of  Lek  Dukadjini,  who  codified 
the  legendary  tribal  customs  of  the  people,  are  in 
force  in  a  large  part  of  North  Albania.  The  Turks 
have  always  played  upon  the  divisions  caused  by 
the  three  religions  and  the  many  tribes,  but  nothing 
has  ever  denationalised  the  Albanian.  He  never 
describes  himself  as  a  Turk  or  a  Greek,  as  so  many 
interested  foreigners  do,  but  always  as  a  Shkypetar. 
Bigoted  as  he  too  frequently  is  in  the  matter  of 
religion,  his  nationality  invariably  has  first  place, 


THE   FUTURE   OF   ALBANIA      229 

and  when  he  grasps  the  fact  that  he  is  a  member  of 
an  independent  Albanian  state,  he  will  be  prouder 
than  ever  of  his  race.     But  it  cannot  be  expected 
that  the  old  divergencies  will  disappear  suddenly 
under  the  magic  of  a  national  government.     It  will 
be  a  great  mistake  to  introduce  at  once  a  cast-iron 
European  constitution  with  a  strong  central  rule 
and  a  ready-made  bureaucracy  and  police.      The 
tribes  are  jealous  of  their  independence,  and  will  be 
as  unwilling  to  surrender  it  to  a  national  govern- 
ment as  to  the  Turks.     A  federal  state  is  what 
should  be  aimed  at,  a  constitution  more  like  that 
of  Canada  and  Australia  than  that  of  Bulgaria  or 
Servia.      The  country  readily   divides   itself  into 
provinces,  and,  taking  the  boundaries  so  far  as  they 
have  been  laid  down  by  Europe,  Scodra,  with  the 
IMalissori  and  the  plains  of  the  Kiri  and  Zadrima, 
would  make  a  county  or  province  of  mixed  Roman 
Catholic  and  IMoslem  religion  ;  the  Mirdites  would 
form  a  Roman  Catholic  province  ready-made,  with 
a  Prince   and   system   of  government   complete ; 
Elbassan  or  Tirana  would  be  the  capital  of  Central 
xVlbania  where  Moslems  predominate  ;  and  Avlona 
of  South  Albania  where  the  inhabitants  are  mostly 
Orthodox. 

Scodra  is  the  most  important  town,  but  Durazzo, 
if  it  were  the  terminus  of  a  railway  system,  would 
probably  be  found  the  most  convenient  spot  for 


230  ALBANIA 

federal  capital.  Setting  aside  their  heroes  of 
antiquity,  the  modern  Albanians  have  shown  in 
Italy  and  Greece  that  they  can  produce  statesmen, 
and  they  have  given  the  reigning  dynasty  to  Egypt 
so  that  there  need  be  no  fear  that  capable  men  will 
be  wanting  to  take  up  the  reins  of  government. 
The  King  of  the  country,  the  Prince  of  Wied,  had 
to  be  chosen  from  the  families  of  European  sove- 
reigns, as  the  rulers  of  Greece,  Roumania,  and 
Bulgaria  were  chosen,  for  in  Albania  there  is  no 
chieftain  who  holds  the  position  which  King  Nicolas 
has  in  Montenegro,  or  even  King  Peter  in  Servia. 
The  three  outstanding  personalities  of  Albania 
to-day  are  Ismail  Kemal  Bey,  Essad  Pasha,  and 
Prenck  Bib  Doda  Pasha,  the  hereditary  chieftain 
of  the  Mirdites,  but  two  are  Moslems  and  the  other 
a  Roman  Catholic,  and  the  choice  of  any  one  of 
them  would  inevitably  have  led  to  jealousy  and 
quarrels.  Under  the  sovereign  chosen  by  Europe, 
Ismail  Kemal  Bey  will  probably  become  the  ruler 
of  the  southern  province,  and  Prenck  Bib  Doda 
Pasha  of  Mirditia,  where  his  ancestors  have  been 
acknowledged  chiefs  for  centuries.  In  the  districts 
of  Tirana  and  Elbassan  Essad  Pasha  is  the  obvious 
chief,  and  in  or  round  Scodra  there  are  the  repre- 
sentatives of  great  families  which  have  always  had 
much  local  influence,  and  frequently  local  rule. 
Each  district  would  be  more  likely  to  settle  down 


THE   FUTURE   OF   ALBANIA      231 

under  its  own  chiefs  and  elders,  making  a  federal 
state  with  a  discreet  and  tactful  central  govern- 
ment. To  attempt  to  make  a  hard  and  fast  modern 
principality  of  the  loosely  knit  tribes  of  the  north 
and  south  will  be  deliberately  to  court  disaster. 

The  greatest  misfortune  tliat  has  befallen 
Albania  in  modern  times  was  the  opening  of  the 
Balkan  railways  to  Salonica  which  tapped  the 
entire  trade  of  the  country,  except  the  narrow  strip 
on  the  sea  coast.  It  meant  stagnation  to  cities  like 
Scodra,  Elbassan,  and  Yanina,  and  ruin  to  the 
ports  of  Durazzo  and  Avlona.  The  trade  of  Pris- 
rend  and  all  the  districts  near,  which  formerly  went 
along  the  Drin  valley  route  to  Scodra  and  Dulcigno 
or  San  Giovanni  di  Medua,  was  diverted  to  the 
railway  which  ran  close  by.  The  commerce  of 
Monastir,  Ochrida,  and,  in  a  less  degree  of  Elbassan, 
which  found  an  outlet  at  Durazzo,  was  completely 
lost  when  the  line  was  extended  from  Salonica  to 
INIonastir.  Salonica  is  the  great  rival  of  the 
Albanian  ports,  but  if  the  railway  system  is 
properly  built,  much  of  the  old  trade  will  be  re- 
covered and  turned  towards  the  Adriatic,  Italy  and 
Trieste.  Another  help  to  trade  in  the  interior 
would  be  the  regulating  of  the  Drin,  which  at 
present  is  a  torrent,  and  a  hindrance  rather  than  an 
aid  to  traffic.  The  great  plain  of  the  Zadrima  to 
the  south  and  east  of  Scodra  will  have  to  be  taken 


232  ALBANIA 

in  hand  by  the  engineers,  and  properly  drained  by 
keeping  the  Drin,  the  Boiana,  and  the  Kiri  to 
their  own  river  beds.  When  that  is  done  harbour 
works  might  be  built  at  Alessio  and  San  Giovanni 
di  Medua.  On  the  building  of  railways,  the  canal- 
isation of  the  rivers  and  the  making  of  harbours 
the  industrial  and  commercial  future  of  Albania 
depends,  but  so  far  nothing  has  been  done,  and  the 
communications  and  outlets  of  the  country  are  in 
a  deplorable  condition. 

Pohtically,  Albania  will  require  to  be  saved 
from  her  friends  no  less  than  guarded  from  her 
enemies.  She  will  be  surrounded  by  Slavs  on  the 
north  and  east,  and  by  Greeks  on  the  south,  and 
her  neighbours  will  do  all  that  they  can  to  strangle 
her  with  a  view  to  that  final  partition  which  has 
been  denied  them  now.  The  new  kingdom's  active 
friends  are  Austria  and  Italy,  and  both  of  them 
look  to  her  as  their  lever  for  keeping  the  balance  of 
power  in  the  Near  East.  Albania  has  always  been 
most  friendly  with  her  neighbour  across  the  sea, 
and  at  one  time  was  governed  from  Rome.  More- 
over, Italy  has  generally  been  the  refuge  of  exiles 
from  the  Turkish  shore  of  the  Adriatic,  and  many 
villages  in  South  Italy  are  entirely  of  Shkypetar 
descent.  No  doubt  Italy  will  see  to  it  that 
Albania  does  not  become  an  appanage  of  Austria, 
but  very  little  help  will  be  needed,  for  with  the 


THE   FUTURE   OF   ALBANIA      233 

Albanian  independence  is  life,  and  he  has  fought 
for  it  against  all  comers. 

The  natural  and  easiest  hne  for  the  new  kingdom 
to  take  in  the  future  is  an  understanding  or  alliance 
with  Greece.  At  the  present  moment  Greece  is 
the  ally  of  Servia,  as  she  was  of  Bulgaria  till  Turkey- 
was  defeated,  but  this  state  of  tilings  will  pro- 
bably end  soon.  The  Greeks  and  the  Albanians 
are  the  only  two  non-Slavonic  peoples  south  of  the 
Danube,  and  they  are  outnumbered  many  times  by 
the  hordes  of  Slavs.  If  they  are  to  exist  another 
fifty  years  the  kingdom  of  Greece  and  the  federal 
state  of  Albania  must  become  allies  under  the  pro- 
tection of  Europe.  The  two  races  are  kindred, 
they  have  the  same  hatred  of  the  Slav,  and  they 
are  equally  in  danger  of  being  wiped  off  the  map 
by  a  Big  Bulgaria  or  a  Greater  Servia.  Their 
command  of  the  Levant  gives  them  a  position  of 
mastery,  but  only  by  an  alliance  can  they  get  the 
full  benefit  of  it,  and  avoid  being  swept  away  by 
the  Slavonic  races.  The  Turk  is  now  no  longer 
the  enemy ;  for  the  Albanian  and  the  Greek  he  is 
the  Bulgar  and  the  Serb  ;  for  the  Bulgar  and  the 
Serb  he  is  the  Teuton.  In  a  very  few  years  the 
Near  Eastern  Question  will  resolve  itself  into  the 
struggle  of  the  Slav  and  the  Teuton,  and  in  an 
alliance  with  Greece  Albania  may  have  a  great  part 
to  play  in  the  future. 


XVII 

THE   ALBANIAN   ROMAN    CATHOLIC   CHURCH 

Not  the  least  puzzling  of  the  many  problems  which 
will  have  to  be  solved  by  the  makers  of  the  new 
Albanian  kingdom  is  the  position  of  the  Roman 
Catholics  of  North  Albania.  They  form  a  httle 
enclave  of  worshippers  faithful  to  the  Pope,  who 
have  held  to  their  ancient  form  of  religion,  and 
have  steadfastly  refused  to  bow  the  knee  either  to 
Orthodoxy  or  to  Islam.  The  Orthodox  Slavs  are 
much  older  enemies  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Al- 
banians than  the  Mahometans  are,  and  these 
obstinate  Shkjrpetars,  with  Scodra  as  their  capital 
and  Bishopric,  have  remained  through  the  centuries 
true  to  their  allegiance  to  Rome,  surrounded  by 
Orthodox  Slavs  and  Moslem  Albanians,  and  with 
no  nearer  neighbours  of  their  own  religion  than  the 
people  of  the  Dalmatian  coast.  It  was  with  dazed 
astonishment  that  the  Roman  CathoHc  Albanians 
learned  there  was  some  probability  that  their  ancient 
city  of  Scodra,  which  had  been  their  capital  and 
the  see  of  their  bishops  and  archbishops  long  before 


THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH     235 

the  Serbs  crossed  the  Danube,  would  be  handed 
over  to  Montenegro,  whose  only  claim  to  it  was 
that  the  Serbian  Czar  Dushan  had  held  it  by  force 
of  conquest  for  a  few  years  in  the  fourteenth 
century,  and  that  his  predecessors  in  the  headship 
of  the  Serbs  had  been  its  intermittent  masters 
when  they  were  strong  enough  to  overcome  the 
native  Albanians,  the  Byzantine  Empire,  and  the 
Bulgarian  Czars.  Fortunately  this  injustice  has 
been  averted  by  the  firmness  of  Austria  and  Europe, 
though  even  now,  as  the  northern  frontier  is 
drawn,  many  Roman  Catholic  Albanians  will  be 
included  in  the  new  Servia  and  Montenegro. 

The  Roman  Church  in  North  Albania  is  repre- 
sented by  three  different  orders.  First  come  the 
bishops  and  parochial  clergy  under  the  Metropohtan 
Archbishop  of  Scodra  and  Dioclea,  whose  seat  and 
cathedral  are  at  Scodra.  Independent  of  the 
Metropohtan  is  the  Mitred  Abbot  of  Orosh,  the 
ecclesiastical  head  of  the  Mirdites,  who  since  1888 
has  ranked  as  an  archbishop,  and  is  responsible 
solely  to  the  Vatican.  Secondly,  there  are  the 
Franciscan  monks,  who  have  several  monasteries  in 
the  country,  one  even  at  Moslem  Ipek,  the  place 
which  has  been  surrendered  to  Servia  or  Monte- 
negro in  spite  of  its  being  a  purely  Albanian  town. 
The  Franciscans  are  under  the  protection  of 
Austria,  who  also  claims  a  protectorate  over  the 


236  ALBANIA 

bishops,  though  they  and  the  parochial  clergy  insist 
that  they  are  Shkypetars,  and  independent  of  every 
one  but  the  Pope.  Lastly  come  the  Jesuits,  who 
have  a  college  and  schools  at  Scodra,  and  are 
supported  by  Italy,  chiefly  as  a  makeweight  against 
the  influence  of  Austria.  There  is  one  sign  which 
marks  the  priests  of  the  Albanian  Catholic  Church, 
foreign  and  native-born  alike,  and  that  is  the  mous- 
tache.  Rome  allows  her  priests  in  partibus  in- 
Jidelium  to  wear  the  beard,  but  in  Albania  they 
have  to  wear  the  moustache  or  they  would  be 
laughed  at  as  women,  and  be  chased  out  of  their 
parishes.  All  the  priests  and  monks,  young  and 
old,  wear  the  moustache  with  soutane  and  frock, 
and  only  in  Scodra  do  they  ever  wear  a  hat,  the 
red  fez  of  the  Turks  or  the  white  felt  skuU-cap  of 
the  Albanian  mountaineers  being  worn  by  them  in 
the  country.  When  Mehemet  Ali  Pasha  was  mur- 
dered at  Jacovo  he  had  with  him  an  Albanian 
Franciscan  named  Padre  Pietro,  who  was  \vell 
known  in  and  near  Scodra.  The  insurgents  had 
determined  to  kill  this  priest  as  he  was  suspected 
of  intriguing  to  hand  the  town  over  to  Austria  or 
Servia,  and  when  the  last  struggle  came  and  the 
Pasha  rushed  out  of  the  burning  tower  to  be  cut 
down  by  the  besiegers,  Padre  Pietro  doffed  his 
Franciscan  frock,  put  on  the  white  felt  costume  of 
a  mountaineer,  thrust  a  couple  of  pistols  and  a 


THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH     237 

yataghan  into  his  sila,  or  pistol  belt,  and  stalked 
out  among  the  Albanian  hillmen  as  one  of  them, 
unrecognised  by  liis  enemies.  These  militant 
priests  are  Shkypetars  first  of  all,  against  Turk, 
Slav,  and  Frank,  and,  secondly,  Roman  Cathohc 
against  Moslem  and  Orthodox  Slav. 

Albania  was  finally  made  a  Roman  province 
by  Augustus,  and  as  Christianity  spread  over  the 
empire  the  Thrako-Illyrian  tribes  became  converted 
like  their  neighbours.  That  the  Albanians  be- 
came Christians  early  is  proved  by  the  fact  that 
Galerius  thought  it  necessary  to  persecute  them 
in  the  opening  years  of  the  fourth  century  before 
Constantine's  Edict  of  Milan  in  312  a.d.  At 
the  partition  of  the  empire  in  39,5  a.d.  Epirus, 
Thessaly,  and  Greece,  though  they  were  separated 
from  the  Prefecture  of  Illyricum,  continued  to 
be  dependent  on  the  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction 
of  the  Pope,  for  in  those  days  no  one  had  any 
conception  that  there  could  be  more  than  one 
Church  on  earth.  During  the  next  five  hundred 
years  Christians  became  reconciled  to  the  idea 
that  the  Church  was  spUt  into  factions  and 
sects,  but  in  spite  of  that  it  was  not  until  after 
the  final  separation  of  the  Pope  from  the  Eastern 
Empire  in  800  a.d.  and  the  quarrel  with  the 
Iconoclasts,  that  the  division  of  the  Church  into 
East    and    West    was    made    apparent.     North 


238  ALBANIA 

Albania  possesses  one  of  the  most  ancient 
bishoprics  in  the  world,  as  Durazzo  claims  to 
have  been  founded  by  St.  Paul,  who  preached 
in  Illyi'ia  and  New  Epirus.  In  58  a.d.  Durazzo 
is  said  to  have  had  seventy  Christian  families 
under  a  Bishop  named  Appollonius,  and  this  is 
worth  noting,  as  there  seems  a  tendency  to  look 
on  all  Albanians  as  "  Turks,"  and  to  include  the 
Orthodox  Albanians  of  the  south  among  the 
Greeks,  and  the  Roman  Cathohcs  of  the  north 
among  the  Orthodox  Slavs.  But  even  if  we  have 
doubts  about  St.  Paul  at  Durazzo,  it  is  historically 
certain  that  there  were  Bishops  of  the  Christian 
Church  in  Albania  soon  after  the  persecution  of 
Galerius. 

In  387  A.D.  Scodra  was  the  seat  of  an 
Archbishop,  and  in  431  a.d.  Archbishop  Senecius 
of  Scodra  took  part  in  the  Council  of  Ephesus. 
There  were  only  three  Archbishops  of  Scodra 
in  the  early  Church,  and  Albania  was  placed 
under  the  Metropolitan  of  Salonica  in  the  fourth 
century,  and  of  Ochrida  by  Justinian  in  the  sixth 
century.  When  the  Western  line  of  Emperors 
ended  with  Romulus  Augustulus  in  476  a.d.  the 
ecclesiastical  power  of  Rome  became  gradually 
emphasised  at  the  expense  of  its  imperial  status. 
The  election  of  the  Pope  was  confirmed  by  the 
Emperor  at   Constantinople,   but  Pope   Gregory 


THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH     239 

IH.  in  731  A.D.  was  the  last  Pope  so  confirmed, 
and  there  was  more  than  a  touch  of  irony  in 
the  fact  that  the  Emperor  concerned  was  Leo 
the  I  saurian.  Leo  was  an  ecclesiastical  reformer, 
and  Gregory  HI.  at  once  called  a  Council  at 
Rome  by  which  the  Iconoclasts  were  excom- 
municated in  a  body.  Leo  sent  an  expedition 
to  arrest  the  Pope  for  his  insubordination,  but 
it  came  to  nothing,  for  in  Italy  the  Pope  had 
become  almost  the  equal  of  the  Emperor.  Leo, 
therefore,  in  733  a.d.  confiscated  the  Papal 
estates  in  the  East,  and  placed  South  Italy, 
Sicily,  Greece,  Illyria  and  Macedonia  under  the 
Patriarch  of  Constantinople.  But  the  Pope  still 
claimed,  and  was  generally  accorded,  the  head- 
ship of  the  Church,  and  that  state  of  things  went 
on,  the  Albanian  Church  being  subject  to  the 
Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  but  in  supreme 
matters  paying  allegiance  to  the  Pope  at  Rome, 
until  858  a.d.,  when  matters  came  to  a  crisis. 
It  was  the  time  of  the  quarrel  over  the  election 
of  Photius  as  Patriarch,  and  the  deposition  of 
Ignatius  which  it  was  necessary  to  ratify.  No 
General  Council  could  be  summoned  without  the 
concurrence  of  the  Pope,  and  tlie  Emperor 
IMichael  had  to  send  Ambassadors  to  Rome  to 
ask  Pope  Nicholas  I.  to  call  a  Council  to  settle 
the  disputes  of  the  Eastern  Church.     The  Pope 


240  ALBANIA 

agreed  to  do  so,  but  at  the  same  time  he  de- 
manded the  restoration  of  the  Papal  estates, 
the  re-establishment  of  the  Papal  jurisdiction 
over  the  lUyrian  provinces,  and  various  other 
matters  of  which  his  predecessor  had  been  de- 
prived by  Leo  III.  The  General  Council  was 
held  at  Constantinople  in  861  a.d.,  and  Ignatius 
was  duly  deposed,  but  the  Papal  Legates  were 
so  weak  that  they  did  not  obtain  the  restoration 
of  Albania  and  the  rest,  and  consequently  were 
disowned  at  Rome. 

The  Albanian  Church  had  little  to  do  with 
the  subsequent  acts  in  the  drama  of  Photius, 
and  with  most  of  the  decisions  of  the  Eighth 
General  Council  of  the  Church  in  878  at  Con- 
stantinople. But  in  the  intervals  of  the  great 
game  played  by  the  Emperor  Basil,  Photius 
and  the  Pope,  to  the  disadvantage  of  Rome,  the 
question  of  the  Albanian  hierarchy  was  settled 
for  the  time  being  at  a  Council  of  Dalmatia 
in  877  A.D.  In  addition  to  the  Legates  of  the 
Pope  and  of  the  Greek  Emperor,  George  Arch- 
bishop of  Salonica,  and  many  Dalmatian,  Croatian 
and  Serbian  Bishops  were  present,  with  the  Duke 
of  Croatia  and  the  Zhupan  of  Serbia,  in  order  to 
divide  and  arrange  the  hierarchy  of  the  Church 
in  those  parts.  The  Albanian  Church  was 
separated  from  Macedonia,  and  this  it  was  which 


THE  ROxMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH     241 

kept  the  North  Albanians  faithful  to  Rome.  If 
they  had  remained  under  the  ecclesiastical  juris- 
diction of  Salonica  or  Ochrida  they  would  doubt- 
less now  be  following  the  Greek  and  not  the 
Latin  ritual.  When  the  Dalmatian  Council  came 
to  its  decision  it  seemed  to  have  only  decided  on 
a  question  of  local  governance,  whereas  in  reality 
it  was  putting  North  Albania  under  the  Pope 
and  not  under  the  Patriarch.  Dioclea  was  raised 
to  the  position  of  a  Metropolitan  see,  and  under 
it  were  placed  twelve  bishoprics,  namely,  Anti- 
vari,  Budua,  Cattaro,  Dulcigno,  Svacia,  Scodra, 
Drivasto,  Pulati,  Sorbium,  Bosnia,  Tribunium, 
and  Zachlumium.  The  province  of  Dioclea  was 
extended  over  the  old  province  of  Scodra,  and 
over  Serbia  which  was  attached  to  it,  but  the 
arrangement  only  lasted  in  its  integrity  for  half 
a  century.  Simeon,  Czar  of  Bulgaria,  was  at 
that  time  subduing  the  peninsular  under  his  mush- 
room Empire,  and  in  927  a.d.,  the  last  year  of 
his  life,  he  took  and  utterly  destroyed  the  city 
of  Dioclea,  and  left  nothing  but  the  ruins,  which 
are  still  to  be  seen  at  Dukla,  about  two  and  a 
half  miles  north  of  Podgorica,  where  the  rivers 
Zeta  and  JNIaracha  meet. 

The  invasion  might  well  ha\'e  resulted  in 
uniting  Albania  to  the  Patriarch,  but  it  had  the 
opposite  effect,  as  John   Archbishop   of  Dioclea 

R 


242  ALBANIA 

fled    to    Ragusa,   whither    some    of    his   Bishops 
followed  him,  and  thenceforward   considered  the 
little  republic  as  the  seat  of  their  MetropoUtan. 
But  some  of  the  Bishops,  for  example,  the  Bishops 
of  Antivari,  Svacia,  Dulcigno  and  Cattaro,  passed 
over  to  the  see  of  Spalato,  and  as  more  than  a 
century    elapsed     between     the     destruction     of 
Dioclea  and  the  foundation  of  the  Archbishopric 
of  Antivari,  there  were  many  and  bitter  quarrels 
between  the  Archbishops  of  Ragusa  and  Spalato 
concerning    the     authority    over     the    provincial 
Bishops.     In  1030  a.d.  Antivari,  Svacia,  Dulcigno 
and   Cattaro   certainly   belonged    to   Spalato,   for 
Archbishop  Dabralis  of  that  city  summoned  them 
to  a  provincial  council  as  Metropolitan.     The  four 
Bishops  proceeded  to  Spalato  by  sea,  and  on  their 
way   were   overtaken   by   a    storm   and   wrecked. 
The  drowning  of  these  Bishops  caused  the  Archie- 
piscopal  see  of  Dioclea  to  be  revived  at  Antivari, 
as   the   people  of  the   four   cities   petitioned   the 
Pope  to  separate  them  from  Spalato  on  account 
of  the   danger  of  the  voyage   for   their  Bishops. 
The  Pope  then  took  Antivari,  Svacia,  Dulcigno, 
and   Cattaro   from   Ragusa    and   founded   a   new 
Archbishopric  at  Antivari.     This  happened  about 
1034   A.D.,   when    Benedict   IX.   was   Pope,   and 
Alexander  II.,  in  1062  a.d.,  in  a  letter  to  Peter, 
Archbishop    of    Dioclea  and   Antivari,   mentions 


THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH     243 

Cattaro,  Svacia,  Scodra,  Drivasto,  Pulati,  Serbia 
(old),  Bosnia,  and  Tribunium  as  belonging  to  the 
see.  It  afterwards  lost  Serbia  (old),  Cattaro, 
Bosnia  and  Tribunium,  but  from  time  to  time 
Sappa,  Sarda,  Arbania,  Dagno,  Dulcigno,  and 
Budua  were  added  to  it. 

The  Archbishopric  of  Antivari  was  not  es- 
tablished without  violent  protests  on  the  part  of 
the  iVrchbishop  of  Ragusa,  and  for  over  a  century, 
while  the  schism  between  the  East  and  the  W'^est 
was  being  consummated,  the  Albanian  Churches 
were  occupied  with  quarrels  over  their  local  juris- 
diction. The  Archbishop  of  Ragusa  complained 
that  Antivari  and  its  subject  churches  were  taken 
away  from  him,  and  on  account  of  his  continual 
intrigues  and  representations  to  the  Pope,  the 
Bishoprics  of  the  province  of  Dioclea  were  replaced 
under  his  authority  about  the  beginning  of  the 
twelfth  century.  The  Bishops  of  Antivari  fre- 
quently refused  to  acknowledge  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  Archbishops  of  Ragusa,  and,  wearied  out 
with  these  feuds  in  the  midst  of  so  many  matters 
of  vital  importance.  Pope  Alexander  III.  again 
made  Antivari  an  Archbishopric  about  1178  a.d. 
The  first  Archbishop  of  the  restored  line  was 
Gregory,  and  his  successors  were  John  I.  about 
1199  and  John  II.  about  1248,  but  the  quarrels 
with    Ragusa    still    continued.      At    last    Pope 


244  ALBANIA 

Innocent  IV.  decided  to  put  an  end  to  these  dis- 
putes, but  there  is  no  record  of  how  the  affair  was 
arranged.  However,  from  two  letters  of  Innocent 
IV.  dated  1253,  one  to  Guffridus,  successor  to 
John  II.,  whom  he  calls  Archbishop  of  Antivari, 
and  the  other  to  the  Bishops  Suffragan  of  Antivari, 
it  would  appear  that  the  decision  was  given  against 
Ragusa.  Moreover,  from  that  time  the  Metro- 
politan of  Antivari  always  held  his  Bishoprics 
peaceably,  and  quarrels  between  the  two  sees 
came  to  an  end. 

The  Council  of  Dioclea  was  held  about  1199 
A.D.  in  the  province  of  Antivari,  and  twelve  canons 
for  reforming  abuses  and  morals  were  drawn  up. 
The  presidents  were  John  and  Simon,  Papal 
Legates;  and  the  signatories  were  the  Legates, 
John  Archbishop  of  Dioclea  and  Antivari,  Domeni- 
cus  Archpresbyter  of  Arbania,  Peter  Bishop  of 
Scodra,  John  Bishop  of  Pulati,  Peter  Bishop  of 
Drivasto,  Domenicus  Bishop  of  Svacia,  Natahs 
Bishop  of  Dulcigno,  and  Theodore  Bishop  of  Sarda. 
The  Council  was  that  of  the  Province  of  Dioclea 
and  Antivari,  which  was  entirely  Albanian  and 
did  not  contain  a  single  Bishop  of  Bosnia,  Dalmatia, 
or  Serbia.  It  was  the  one  Province  which  re- 
mained faithful  to  Rome  when  the  Slav  Provinces 
transferred  their  allegiance  to  the  Patriarch  of 
Constantinople,  and  it  remains  to-day  exactly  as 


THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH     '2ir> 

it  was  over  seven  hundred  years  ago,  except  tliat 
Antivari  and  Dulcigno  having  been  given  to 
Montenegro  in  1878  and  1880,  these  Bishoprics 
have  been  merged  in  tlie  see  of  Scodra.  The 
Province  has  been  overwhehned  beneath  the  waves 
of  Slav  and  Turk  in  tliose  seven  hundred  years, 
but  the  tenacity  of  the  Shkypetar  has  preserved 
his  nationahty  and  his  rehgion  in  spite  of  tempta- 
tion and  persecution. 

The  Arclibishops  of  Dioclea  and  Antivari  (or 
Scodra)  have  always  added  to  their  style  and  title 
the   appellation   of  Primate   of  the   Kingdom  of 
Servia,  although  the  Serbs  have  belonged  to  the 
Orthodox    Church   since   the    crowning   of    King 
Stefan  Urosh  by  his  brother  St.  Sava  in  1222  a.d. 
Owing  to   their   distance   from   Rome   and   their 
knowledge  of  Constantinople  as  the  Imperial  city, 
both  Bulgars  and  Serbs  were  always  more  attracted 
to  the  form  of  Christianity  affected  by  the  Patriarch 
than  to  that  administered  by  the  Pope,  but  it  is 
quite  possible  that  the  Zhupans  and  Czars  of  Serbia 
would   have   remained   under   the  shadow  of  St. 
Peter's  had  the  Pope  been  a  little  more  accom- 
modating in  his  recognition   of  Serbian   royalty. 
The  Serbs  were  converted  to  Christianity  in  the 
middle  of  the  ninth  century,  and  some  two  hundred 
years  later  the  Grand  Zhupan  Michael  Voislavich 
temporarily  put  himself  under  the  Pope  for  political 


246  ALBANIA 

reasons.  When  Stefan  Nemanya  came  to  the 
Serbian  throne  the  Roman  CathoHcs  were  per- 
secuted for  the  first  time  since  the  far-off  days 
of  Galerius,  although  the  Zhupan  was  always 
quarrelling  with  the  Emperor  of  Constantinople. 
In  1195  A.D.  Stefan  Nemanya  abdicated  in  favour 
of  his  eldest  son,  Stefan  Urosh,  and  the  new 
Zhupan,  being  an  ambitious  man,  at  once  put  the 
rehgious  convictions  of  Serbia  in  the  market. 
Stefan  was  a  diplomatist  rather  than  a  soldier,  and 
he  determined  to  be  recognised  as  an  independent 
king  and  no  longer  to  be  a  vassal  of  the  Emperor. 
Pope  Innocent  III.  bid  high  for  Serbia,  and  in 
1217  Stefan  Urosh  was  crowned  by  the  Papal 
Legate,  but  the  Pope  was  unbending  in  the  matter 
of  jurisdiction,  and  in  Stefan's  younger  brother 
Rastko,  or  St.  Sava,  he  had  a  skiUed  enemy.  St. 
Sava  easily  obtained  the  recognition  of  Serbian 
independence  from  the  Emperor  Baldwin,  who 
had  been  placed  on  the  throne  of  the  Emperors 
by  the  Latin  conquest,  and  as  a  Latin  Patriarch 
had  been  installed  in  Constantinople,  he  was  able 
to  persuade  the  Greek  Patriarch  and  Prelates  to 
acknowledge  the  Serbian  Church  as  independent 
by  threa  tening  to  go  over  to  Rome  if  they  refused. 
Sava  was  successful  all  along  the  line.  He  was 
consecrated  first  Archbishop  of  the  independent 
Church  of  Serbia  in  1220  a.d.  at  Nicea,  and  two 


THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  247 

years  later  crowned   his  brother   Stefan    King  or 
Czar  of  Serbia  at  Zitcha. 

The  Albanians  and  their  Bishops,  uninfluenced 
by  these  bargainings,  remained  faithful  to  Rome, 
but  the  Czars  of  Serbia  did  not  interfere  with  the 
Province  until  1312  a.d.,  when  Stefan  VI.  began 
to  persecute  the  Latins  under  the  inspiration  of 
the  Serbian  clergy.  The  Pope,  therefore,  advised 
the  Albanian  chiefs  to  refuse  to  go  to  the  Czar's 
court,  and  in  1320  a.d.  the  Shkypetar  nobles 
formed  a  League  for  the  maintenance  of  their 
religion.  In  the  following  year  Stefan  VII.  Urosh 
succeeded  his  father,  and  in  his  reign  the  Albanians 
seem  to  have  been  allowed  to  practise  their  reUgion 
in  peace.  Both  Stefan  VII.  Urosh  and  Dushan 
intrigued  with  the  Pope,  and  Dushan  sent  Am- 
bassadors to  Rome  in  1354,  but  even  had  either 
of  these  great  rulers  wished  to  acknowledge  the 
Pope,  the  Serbs  were  too  stubbornly  Orthodox 
for  such  sagacious  men  to  have  entertained  the 
idea.  Dushan's  laws,  published  in  1349,  show  him 
to  have  been  violently  opposed  to  the  "  Latin 
lieretics,"  and  probably  the  Albanians  would  have 
been  persecuted  again  had  they  not  been  a  first- 
rate  fighting  people  and  for  that  reason  invaluable 
to  Dushan  in  his  twin  ambitions  of  driving  the 
Turks  out  of  Europe  and  of  getting  possession  of 
the  Byzantine  throne.     But  Dushan  died  suddenly 


248  ALBANIA 

when  within  sight  of  Constantinople,  and  his 
ephemeral  empire  immediately  collapsed.  This 
was  in  1356,  and  the  Albanians  at  once  became 
independent  mider  George  Balsha,  a  Norman 
Baron  who  had  been  serving  under  the  warrior 
Dushan.  Balsha  appears  to  have  been  accom- 
modating in  the  matter  of  religion,  for  in  1368 
he  became  a  Roman  Catholic,  his  conversion  from 
Orthodoxy  proving  the  strength  of  religious  feeling 
in  Albania,  and  the  hatred  felt  by  the  Shkypetars 
for  the  Serbs,  who  had  been  lording  it  over  them 
in  Church  and  State. 

For  the  next  hundred  years  Scodra  and  the 
adjoining  country  were  alternately  under  the  rule 
of  the  Balshas  and  the  ^^enetians,  and  the  Albanian 
Roman  Catholic  Church  had  peace.  In  1470 
Scodra  was  surrendered  by  the  Venetians  to  the 
Turkish  besiegers,  and  Archbishop  John  was  sent 
to  Constantinople,  but  the  ship  in  which  he  sailed 
being  attacked  by  the  Venetians,  he  was  put  to 
death  to  prevent  a  rescue.  His  palace  became  the 
residence  of  the  Cadi,  but  the  Roman  Catholics 
were  still  allowed  their  churches  and  freedom  of 
worship.  The  Archbishops  fixed  their  seat  at 
Budua  until  1609  a.d.,  when  Archbishop  Marinus 
obtained  a  firman  from  the  Sultan  granting  the 
fullest  freedom  and  privileges  to  the  Roman 
Catholics ;  the  Archbishop  received  a  salary  from 


THE  ROIMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH     249 

tlie  Turkish  treasury,  and  was  given  authority  to 
perform  all  the  rites  and  ceremonies  of  the  Church 
and  to  levy  tithes  and  dues  from  his  flock.  In 
spite  of  all  these  privileges  the  Archbishop  and  the 
Bishops  of  Durazzo,  Scodra  and  Alessio  placed 
themselves  at  the  head  of  a  conspiracy  to  hand  over 
Albania  to  the  Venetians  in  1 645.  The  plot  was 
discovered,  and  thenceforward  the  Christians  were 
oppressed  and  humiliated  by  the  Turks  as  political 
intriguers  with  \'enice.  Many  of  the  nobles 
became  INIoslems,  and  from  them  are  descended 
tlie  present  Beys  and  Aghas  of  Scodra  and  its 
district,  while  many  more  Christians  fled  into 
Venetian  territory  to  escape  persecution.  In  those 
evil  days  many  Churches  were  fused  together,  and 
in  the  last  century  Budua  was  taken  from  the 
Metropolitan  of  Antivari.  Since  the  Treaty  of 
Berhn  in  1878  Antivari  has  belonged  to  Monte- 
negro, and  the  seat  of  the  Archbishop  of  Dioclea 
has  been  fixed  at  Scodra. 

The  INIetropolitan  Archbishopric  of  Dioclea, 
which  was  founded  in  877  a.d.,  as  the  centre  of 
an  independent  North  Albanian  Church  has, 
in  the  thousand  years  which  have  passed  since 
then,  been  moved  to  Ragusa,  Antivari,  and 
lastly  to  Scodra,  but  the  prelate  still  retains 
the  title  of  Metropolitan  Archbishop  of  Dioclea 
and   Primate    of    the   Kingdom   of  Servia.     The 


250  ALBANIA 

principal  diocese,  Scodra,  is  not  mentioned 
before  the  fourth  century,  but  it  was  probably- 
included  in  the  Province  of  Salonica,  which 
then  extended  over  all  Illyria.  In  the  sixth 
century  the  Emperor  Justinian  placed  it  under 
the  Primate  of  Ochrida,  but  it  continued  to  be 
the  seat  of  an  Archbishop  until  the  Council  of 
Dalmatia  in  877  a.d.,  when  it  was  reduced  to 
a  Bishopric.  Bassus,  the  first  Archbishop,  lived 
about  387  a.d.,  and  Archbishop  Senecius  was  a 
signatory  at  the  Council  of  Ephesus  in  431  a.d. 
After  the  destruction  of  Dioclea,  Scodra  followed 
the  fortunes  of  the  Province  in  the  quarrels  be- 
tween Ragusa  and  Spalato.  When  the  Turks 
occupied  Scodra  the  Cathedral  was  the  church  of 
St.  Stephen  Protomartyr,  but  it  was  soon  turned 
into  a  mosque.  From  that  time  forward  the 
Bishops  of  Scodra  usually  lived  in  one  of  the 
villages  near  the  city,  and  in  1701  the  thirty- 
eighth  Bishop,  who  Hved  at  Jubany,  was  hanged 
at  Scodra  by  the  Turks.  For  many  years  the 
Catholics  of  Scodra  had  no  cathedral,  but  wor- 
shipped in  an  open  field  surrounded  by  a  thorn 
hedge.  It  was  not  until  1858  that  the  firman 
allowing  them  to  build  a  cathedral  was  read,  and 
then  it  took  several  years  to  erect  the  building. 
In  1843  a  College  which  had  been  founded  by 
the  Jesuits  was  destroyed,  but  the  priests  returned 


THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH     251 

later  on  and  have  not  only  built  a  seminary 
for  those  anxious  to  enter  the  priesthood,  but 
also  large  schools  for  the  children  of  both  sexes. 
In  addition  to  this  the  Franciscans  have  a 
chapel,  an  important  monastery,  and  a  school  for 
children.  The  Cathedral  is  a  great,  bare  build- 
ing capable  of  holding  a  good-sized  crowd  of 
worshippers,  but  almost  destitute  of  any  attempt 
at  ornament  or  decoration.  It  was  injured 
during  the  INIontenegrin  bombardment  in  the 
late  war. 

Five  other  Bishoprics  have  been  absorbed  in 
the  diocese  of  Scodra — Antivari,  Dulcigno, 
Drivasto,  Svacia,  and  Palachiensis.  Antivari  has 
already  been  dealt  with ;  Dulcigno  is  first  heard 
of  at  the  Council  of  877  a.d.,  and  after  the  fall 
of  Dioclea  some  of  its  Bishops  followed  Spalato 
and  some  Ragusa.  The  diocese  was  small,  but 
it  possessed  a  church  dedicated  to  the  Virgin, 
a  College  of  Canons,  and  a  clergy  of  the  second 
order.  Andrew,  its  twenty-ninth  Bishop,  died 
in  1565,  and  after  its  capture  by  the  Turks  it  was 
merged  in  the  see  of  Scodra.  Drivasto,  also 
dating  from  877  a.d.,  is  now  nothing  but  a 
modern  Albanian  village  at  the  foot  of  a  peaked 
hill,  on  the  top  of  which  are  the  shattered  ruins 
of  a  wall,  the  only  remains  of  a  once  powerful 
castle.     It  is  about  nine  miles  distant  from  Scodra 


252  ALBANIA 

on  the  river  Kiri.  In  1477  the  Ottoman  army 
took  the  place  by  storm  after  a  gallant  defence 
of  four  weeks.  Drivasto  had  thirty-five  Bishops, 
and  about  1640  a.d.,  the  town  having  become 
nothing  but  a  thinly  peopled  village,  the  see  was 
merged  in  that  of  Scodra.  Svacia,  or  Scias,  is 
a  small  district  between  Scodra  and  Dulcigno. 
It  was  taken  by  the  Turks  in  1571,  and  in  1610 
Marinus  Archbishop  of  Antivari  found  the  town 
destroyed,  although  the  Church  of  St.  John  the 
Baptist  was  still  standing.  It  was  probably  made 
a  Bishopric  in  877  a.d.,  and  after  the  death  of 
Thomas  the  twenty-second  Bishop  in  1530  the 
diocese  was  united  to  Scodra.  Palachiensis,  or 
Balleacensis,  was  another  Bishopric  of  which  very 
little  is  known.  It  was  situated  on  the  river  Drin 
and  is  first  mentioned  in  1062  a.d.,  when  Pope 
Alexander  II.,  in  a  letter  to  the  Archbishop  ot 
Antivari,  assigned  it  to  the  Metropolitan  of  that 
city,  but  for  three  hundred  years  afterwards  it 
is  not  mentioned  in  the  catalogues  until  the  early 
part  of  the  fourteenth  century,  when  William  is 
spoken  of  as  its  Bishop  in  a  letter  of  Pope  Clement 
VI.  The  eighth  and  last  Bishop  was  Daniel,  who 
was  appointed  in  1478,  and  after  him  no  further 
mention  is  made  of  the  diocese. 

The  Archbishop  of  Durazzo  was  formerly  inde- 
pendent of  Dioclea,  and  still  has  under  him  one 


THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH     253 

Bishopric,  that  of  Alessio,  which  formerly  included 
the  north  of  Mirditia  and  many  of  the  villages  in 
the  plain  of  the  Zadrima.  The  church  at  Alessio 
is  very  ancient,  and  is  said  to  have  been  founded 
in  Apostolic  times,  but  the  first  mention  of  it 
occurs  in  the  sixth  century.  The  Archbishop  of 
Durazzo  is  also  the  titular  Bishop  of  Arbania,  a 
see  of  which  but  little  is  known.  It  was  probably 
adjacent  to  Croia  in  Mirditia,  and  is  first  heard  of 
in  1166  A.D.,  when  Lazarus  was  Bishop.  Marcus 
Scura  was  the  twenty-fourth  and  last  Bishop  of 
Arbania.  He  was  appointed  in  1635,  and  in  1640 
was  translated  to  the  Archbishopric  of  Durazzo. 
In  1656  he  went  to  Rome,  where  he  died  on  the 
last  day  of  1657,  and  Arbania  was  then  merged 
in  the  see  of  Durazzo.  The  Archbishop  of  Uskub 
was  also  formerly  outside  the  Province  of  Dioclea, 
but  is  now  included  in  it.  The  Archbishop  has 
long  resided  at  Prisrend,  as  there  are  but  few 
Roman  Catholics  at  Uskub.  He  has  jurisdiction 
over  the  Province  of  Old  Servia,  where  most  of 
his  flock  are  Lavcunanl,  or  people  who  practise 
Christianity  in  secret  while  openly  professing 
themselves  INloslems.  The  city  which  gave  its 
name  to  the  Diocese  of  Pulati,  was  situated  about 
thirty  miles  north-east  of  Scodra,  among  pre- 
cipitous and  almost  inaccessible  mountains,  but  it 
was  utterly  destroyed  and  even  its  site  is  imknown. 


254  ALBANIA 

Its  Bishop  is  first  mentioned  in  877  a.d.,  but  from 
1345  to  1520  the  Diocese  was  divided  into  Major 
and  Minor  Pulati.  The  two  Bishops  frequently- 
quarrelled,  and  about  1450  Scanderbeg  himself 
interposed  to  stop  their  dissensions.  After  the 
conquest  by  the  Turks  most  of  the  Bishops  were 
absentees  and  the  country  fell  into  a  very  bad 
state;  in  fact,  one  Bishop,  Vicentius,  refused  in 
1656  to  accept  the  Bishopric  and  fled  into  Bosnia, 
where  he  was  arrested,  and  for  his  contumacy 
imprisoned  in  the  Castle  of  St.  Angelo.  The  see 
is  now  divided  into  seven  parishes,  all  of  which, 
except  Giovanni,  the  seat  of  the  Bishop,  are  in 
charge  of  Franciscan  monks. 

Lastly,  there  is  the  Bishopric  of  Sappa  and 
Sarda,  which  is  the  diocese  of  the  great  plain  of 
the  Zadrima.  Only  a  few  traces  are  now  left  of 
Sarda,  which  was  an  ancient  town  on  the  east  bank 
of  the  Drin,  about  eight  miles  from  Scodra.  Its 
church  was  dedicated  to  the  Virgin,  and  the 
Bishopric  was  founded  about  the  year  1190.  Sappa 
was  a  city  in  the  Zadrima  some  fifteen  miles  south- 
east of  Scodra,  but  no  traces  are  now  left  of  it. 
The  first  church  dedicated  to  the  Archangel 
Michael  was  destroyed  by  an  earthquake  and  was 
replaced  by  the  present  church  of  St.  Giorgio, 
which  is  one  of  the  finest  in  Albania.  The 
Bishopric  was  founded  about  1390  a.d.,  but  in  the 


THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH     255 

year  1491  Sappa  and  Sarda  were  joined  by  Pope 
Innocent  VIII.  and,  with  Dagno,  were  placed 
under  a  single  Bishop.  The  Hisliopric  of  Dagno 
or  Dayno  took  its  name  from  a  small  town  which 
was  situated  about  ten  miles  east  of  Scodra,  but 
which  is  now  destroyed.  The  first  Bishop  was 
Donatus  in  1361,  and  he  had  only  ten  successors. 
The  last  Bishop,  William,  was  appointed  in  1520 ; 
he  was  a  French  Dominican,  and  is  of  interest  as 
having  been  sometime  ^^icar-Bishop  of  Winchester. 
Before  his  time  Sappa,  Sarda,  and  Dagno  had  been 
united,  and  certainly  from  the  year  1491  until  now 
have  been  under  the  same  administration. 

The  religious  needs  of  the  Principality  of 
Mirditia  are  looked  after  by  the  JMitred  Abbot  of 
Orosh.  He  was  formerly  under  the  Archbishop 
of  Scodra,  but  since  1888  has  been  independent 
and  has  been  given  the  rank  of  an  Archbishop. 
He  is  the  Abbot  of  the  ancient  Benedictine  Abbey 
of  St.  Alexander  of  the  IMirdites,  and  has  under 
him  all  the  parishes  of  INIirditia.  The  Roman 
Catholics  of  North  Albania  thus  extend  from  the 
old  frontier  of  Montenegro  on  the  north  to  Ipek, 
Jacovo,  and  Prisrend  on  the  north-east,  to  the 
river  Drin  on  the  east,  and  to  Durazzo  on  the 
south.  They  are  thickest  in  Mirditia,  the  Zadrima. 
Scodra,  and  the  Malissori  mountains.  They  have 
withstood  for  centuries  the  persecutions  and  the 


256  ALBANIA 

blandishments  of  the  Orthodox  Slavs  and  of  the 
INIoslem  Turks,  and  with  the  dogged  obstinacy  of 
their  race  have  remained  faithful  to  Rome,  though 
the  Pope  has  been  able  to  do  but  little  for  them. 
Probably  many  of  the  JMoslem  Albanians  will  now 
revert  to  the  religion  of  their  forefathers,  but  the 
men  of  Scodra  and  JNIirditia,  who  have  remained 
steadfast  to  their  beliefs  through  the  centuries, 
merit  at  least  as  much  consideration  and  help 
from  Europe  as  the  more  fashionable  Orthodox 
Serbs  of  Servia  and  Montenegro. 


'"'""'  oismo 


FSIKTED  BI  WILLIAM   CLOWES  AND  SONS,  LIMITED,   LONDON  AND  BBCCLES. 


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